The Nobody
by who smiles
Summary: Po Ping has been picked on and isolated his whole life- and things aren't looking up in his junior year. But when a new girl decides to give him a chance, can things will change for the better? AU. T for high school hijinks. Chapter 9 up!
1. Meet Po

**Welcome to my new AU fic! First multi-chapter story carrying the same plotline I'm planning to finish! I've been working on this since July or there about...**

**In this universe, the characters are human (but they keep the same names), the setting is still in China just more Americanized. Like, American classes, mannerisms, systems etc. etc. Also, it's modern day so they're not wearing the older clothing they have in the movies. No last names, other then Po, because...it's just easier for me XD**

**This chapter is short just as an introduction. Hence the chapter of the title.**

**Also, I'll be updating this alongside with Drabble Edition (updates will probably be posted within the same hour). Heart of a Warrior is officially dead though...Anyways, on with the story!**

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><p><em><strong>The Nobody<strong>_

_**Chapter 1: Meet Po**_

Po Ping didn't have the best morning. He woke up fifteen minutes late, stubbed his toe on the foot of his bed, ripped his favorite shirt while trying to put it on, and had an epic fail while trying to go down the stairs. He spilled orange juice all over his new shirt, and had to change again—this time choosing a Hoops n' Yoyo shirt he got from Comic Con. His toast burnt into charcoal, the toaster caught fire, he got butter in his hair, and poked himself in the eye with a spoon.

When his dad heard him cursing like a sailor, he got so shocked he spilled his cup of boiling hot coffee all over Po's jeans. The teenager had to go change for the third time in ten minutes.

Not exactly the best way to start the first day of school.

After Po rolled down the stairs for the second time, he realized he had forgotten to bring his backpack from his room. With a bit of trouble, he pulled himself onto his feet and started back up the stairs when Mr. Ping stopped him.

"Po, calm down. I'll go get your bag," the older man said kindly, pushing his son out of the way. Po and Mr. Ping looked almost exactly alike; same short, curly brown hair and vibrant green eyes. The only differences were height and stature. Po was over six feet tall, while his father stood at a short five-foot-six. Mr. Ping was rather lean for a man nearing fifty, while Po was…overweight. Not grossly so, until it reached the point of extreme unhealthiness; just wide enough for him to get winded easily and have trouble standing up and sitting back down too fast.

"Thanks Dad," Po sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed loudly. Adding to his weight issue were kids—one jock in particular. They teased him mercilessly, starting from the sixth grade until now, his junior year. Every week of every year he was pushed, shoved, punched, wedgied, swirlied, pantsed, egged, and generally tormented from the stronger, leaner guys in his grade.

Especially Tai Lung. He and Po had literally been sworn enemies since kindergarten when Tai stole Po's animal crackers and proceeded to stick them in glue and paste them all over the younger boy's back. It wasn't exactly the best way to become friends with someone…

With each passing year, Po promised to bulk up over the summer so he could take Tai down…but somehow, he just ended up eating.

And eating.

And eating.

And eating some more.

The teenager snapped out of his thoughts when a black bag was thrust into his stomach. "Eh, thanks Dad."

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Ping replied kindly. He glanced at his watch and gasped. "Po! You are going to miss the bus!"

"Wha—oh crap, you're right!" Po plucked his schedule off the kitchen counter and shoved into his pocket. He double checked to make sure he had everything he needed, then zipped up his bag and slung it over her shoulder. "See ya later Dad!" He called over his shoulder as he ran out the front door.

Mr. Ping waved happily. "Have fun, son!"

Po charged into the waiting school bus. He panted as he waddled past feet and bags to an empty seat in the middle of the bus. A few wads of rolled up paper pegged him in the head, and he was aware someone slapped a piece of paper onto his back.

He kept his gaze down as he sunk into his seat. There was no one on the bus he wanted to talk to—and there was no one that wanted to talk to him. Just like always. Po didn't look up for two whole stops; it would have been longer, if he hadn't heard someone clearing their throat.

Slowly, he raised his head, making eye contact with a petite girl. Po took in every detail about her; her icy blue eyes, cheery smile, long jet black hair swept in a ponytail. She wore a simply light blue shirt over a jeans skirt, and carried a binder in the crook of her elbow. Po's eyes traveled back to her face – lips in particular – and flushed as she gave him a glossy smile. "Is there anyone sitting here?" she gestured to the empty seat next to him.

"Uh, no, it's totally free." Po frowned. This girl was way too pretty to want to talk to him. She had to be new, he thought as she sat down. There was an awkward silence as Po gaped at her, until she raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow and stuck out a delicate hand.

"I'm Viper. Who are you?"

He blinked at her hand. Subconsciously, Po wiped his own on the pair of blue jeans he wore before accepting the handshake. "Po Ping. A-are you new here, Viper?"

Viper nodded, making her perfect ponytail bob up and down. "Yes. My brother and I just moved to the Valley this summer."

"That's, uh, cool. Where'd you move from?"

"Jenli. It's not very far, but my dad got promoted and it's less of a drive to his new office." Po noted how she wiped her hand on her skirt before placing it in her lap. He took this as a sign that she didn't want to speak anymore, so he turned away from her and faced out the window.

"What grade are you in?" Po's head whipped back towards the girl. She _did _want to talk to him?

"Eleventh," he answered quickly.

"Me too! My brother is a senior. What's the high school like?"

It was on the tip of Po's tongue to say 'hell. Run while you can.' But instead he shrugged and spluttered. "It's…uh…pretty average. We don't have anything out of the ordinary."

Viper nodded, looking like she listened to every word. This was so very strange. "I heard you guys have a martial arts team. Isn't that pretty abnormal?"

"For a normal school maybe, but not Peace Valley. And there's only four people on it, so it's not a big deal," Po grunted. He hated sports—football, basketball, baseball, you name it, but martial arts was different. It was something he wanted to be able to do desperately but when your stomach jiggles every time you take a step, it's hard to strut into a dojo and go shirtless to spar.

It's even more difficult when your arch enemy is the captain of the team.

Viper leaned forward, a sly smile dancing on her glassed lips. "Me and my brother actually requested this school just for the martial arts team. We've been doing Kung Fu since we were in preschool."

Po jerked back at the news. This girl, this petite, fragile looking, makeup wearing girl did Kung Fu? "That's really awesome," he said, full of awe.

Viper smirked and sat back. "Thanks," she giggled. Her giggle was the very definition of beauty. Was it even possible to have a beautiful giggle?

"What classes are you taking?" Po asked suddenly, desperate to know if he would see this girl again. She held up a finger, indicating he should wait, and pulled out a piece of paper from her binder. She handed it to him and he read it quickly, eyes widening.

"You're joking. You take trig?" He gaped at her again, and to his surprise she blushed and nodded. "Gods, you must be a genius!"

"Not even close," she scoffed, carefully taking her schedule back. The bus lurched to a stop. "I think we're at the school."

Po craned his neck to look out the window. She was right; that familiar red brick building was towering down at them, and he involuntarily gulped. "Eh, I guess you're right. Welcome to hell, Viper."

"What?"

The teenage boy quickly shook his head. He tried to smile, though his lips twitched and sweat was forming on his head. "N-nothing, never mind. We should…we should go."

"Oh, yeah! Could you show me to my locker?" Viper asked as she stood.

"Uh, sure! 'Course!" Po replied eagerly, waddling down the bus aisle behind her. Luckily, the upper half of the bus was empty, and he didn't have to avoid being tripped.

Now if only he was lucky enough to avoid Tai Lung…for the rest of his life.


	2. Fatso

**Teehee thanks for the reviews! **

**And just for LTspade, I'm putting a character from Heart of a Warrior in here! Also, this chapter contains mild language. It's high school, what do you expect?**

_**Chapter 2: Fatso**_

Po was practically in heaven for the first half of the school day. It turned out that he and Viper shared most classes together, save for electives (certified band geek versus dancing queen). They literally did everything with each other for the whole day.

Talk about ecstasy.

When lunch rolled around, Po actually dared to meet her eyes when she spoke. The gaze lasted for less then a second—but that was good a start. He gripped his tray tighter, praying he wouldn't drop it, and looked over to her and smiled nervously. She was talking about her old school and friends, and a childhood friend whom she hadn't seen in years. So caught up in rambling, she didn't notice he was asking her something until her snapped in front of her face.

"Yo, Viper!" Po said for the fifth time. He should've been annoyed, but how to get irritated with perfection?

She blinked and blushed. "Wha—sorry. I got carried away there. What did you say?"

"I asked you where you wanted to sit," he gestured with his free hand to the entire cafeteria. He had to talk a bit loudly to be heard over the roar of students talking and laughing.

"Oh, I don't know. How about over there? There's a few seats open." Viper pointed to a table filled with kids. Po gulped and shook his head furiously, making his curly hair bob to and fro.

"How about not?" he replied, trying to turn her attention away. "There's a nice empty table over there…"

Viper was determined to stay on topic. "Why can't we sit by those kids?"

Po glanced at the table again, just to double check. Yup; the biggest, loudest guy at the table had that unmistakable forelock streaking his otherwise dark brown hair—Tai Lung. His arm was draped around his girlfriend, a gray-eyed blonde that had a knack for insulting people, and his eyes were focused on her like she was a piece of meat he couldn't wait to eat.

The insufferable douche.

Po shook his head vehemently. "Because, it's taken up by that guy's huge ego," he responded bitterly. "It'd be best it you didn't meet him." He tried to walk in the direction of the empty table, but Viper grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. She was staring intently at Tai Lung.

"Why not? He looks interesting." Was Po imagining things, or did her voice sound…dreamy?

"The food fumes are messing with your head. He's a jerk," Po said flatly. His palms were sweating now, and he was at risk of dropping his tray any second. "Why are staring at him like that?"

As if he pulled her back into reality, Viper's gaze snapped away from the table. "I wasn't staring…well, not at him anyway. See the girl next to that blonde?" She used her chin to point. Po followed the gesture until he was looking at a girl with golden eyes, serious features, and light brown hair streaked with red and cut shorter then his. He winced and turned away before she could catch him looking at her. That was Tigress—a member of the martial arts team and the kind of person to punch you in gut if she caught you merely glance her way. She was the very definition of tomboy—right from her crude attitude to her cropped hair.

The boy looked at Viper again, who was frowning deeply. "What about her?" A horrified expression took over his face as the petite girl started walking to the table. "Viper?"

"That's Tigress!"

"Uh, yeah, and she'll force your tray down your throat if she catches you staring," Po hinted.

"No she won't!"

"What makes you think that?"

However, Viper didn't respond. She was too busy squealing and hugging Tigress.

_Hugging. Tigress._

This day was just full of firsts.

Po watched in confused fascination as Viper threw her arms around Tigress again, and the other girl returned the embrace. "Oh my gods! It's been so long!" his friend exclaimed. She let go of the other girl to grab her hands. "I haven't seen you since we were seven!"

"I haven't seen you since then either!" Tigress replied, sounding just as excited. So far, no one had noticed Po—and he planned to keep it that way. Moving quickly, he spun on his heel and started to slink away.

"Who're your friends?" he heard Viper ask.

"That's Crane, his girlfriend Mei Ling, Monkey, Tai Lung, and his girlfriend Dai Li," Tigress said in a cheery voice. Odd; she was usually brooding, or beating people up. Or being too busy to do something like smile.

Po was really starting to think that Viper was an angel or something.

"It's great to meet all of you!" Viper's bubbly greeting was met with equally happy responses. "Have you guys met my friend…"

Oh no. Po froze in his tracks, crossing his fingers and praying she wouldn't say—

"…Po?"

—his name.

Slowly, he turned around, eyes cast at the ground. He wanted to glare at Viper, or suddenly become charismatic and say hi, or better yet just disappear completely, but none of the above happened.

"Oh yeah," a cocky voice said as its owner stood to his feet, "we've met Po. He's our good friend, aren't you buddy?"

Just as expected, Tai Lung punched Po in the arm. It was by no means a brotherly punch either, since it left Po rubbing his shoulder. "We're n-not friends," Po mumbled.

"What was that? I can't hear you," Tai Lung asked seemingly innocent. When Po didn't repeat himself, the bigger boy laughed and smacked the back of his head. "That's what I thought you said, Fatso."

Po took the abusive words without as much as a grunt. He knew today was too good to be true.

Viper cleared her throat before bouncing over to the two boys. She squeezed herself between them and pushed Tai Lung back politely. "That's awesome!" she said obviously missing the point of Tai Lung's tone. "Po was the first person I talked to today. He was so nice to me! He showed me my way around." She nudged the chubby boy, winking. "He's a real Prince Charming."

Silence…

And then laughter. A loud eruption of such hysterical guffaws, everyone else in the lunchroom quieted. Po went very red in the face, too stunned to move. Viper's smile slowly vanished as she stared at the others. "What's so funny?"

Tigress plopped back into her seat, hand over her mouth and trying to stop laughing so hard. It didn't work. She and Monkey doubled over each other, hooting hysterically. Crane frowned, not partaking in the teasing (he never did) but didn't stop anyone either. Mei Ling giggled and smile apologetically at Po, whereas Dai Li clapped her hands together and laughed louder then anyone else. Po met her gray eyes by mistake and she glared at him, an evil glint in her gaze. "What's so funny?" she turned to Viper, grinning coldly. Po's grip tightened on his tray; he was shaking with anger, and silently pleading Dai Li to stop talking.

She didn't. She never did.

"What's so _funny?" _The blonde repeated. "You just called _Fatso _charming! The most charming thing he's ever said is 'are you going to finish that?'"

Another chorus of laughter followed the insult. The tips of Po's ears reddened. Students from all over the cafeteria began to chortle quietly.

Tai Lung took hold of Viper's wrist, spinning her into the crook of his arm. "Po couldn't stop eating even if he wanted to! And his dad doesn't try to stop him." Sneering, he took on a perfect imitation of Mr. Ping's distinct accent. "'Po, you must eat more son, or else you bring dishonor on my rest-a-raunt! Be a good little boy and eat, eat!'"

If it was possible, his friends started to laugh even harder.

Viper gasped and looked over at Po. Too late—he had dropped his tray and was turning in the other direction. Tai Lung shoved Viper away, where she landed in Crane's lap (to her embarrassment) and grabbed Po's shoulder, forcibly pulling the boy back. "I'm not done yet Fatso. We ought to make sure Viper doesn't associate herself with fat-asses, don't we?"

Po took a deep breath. "Don't talk abut my dad like that," he seethed.

"What happens if I don't? You'll sit on me?" Tai Lung stepped forward, pushing against Po with his chest. "I'm not afraid of you, Fatso. I'm never going to stop. It's disgusting people like you that make me want to jump off bridge."

That was the last straw. Po pushed back, eye level with Tai Lung. "Go try it; you'll be doing the rest of us a huge favor."

"Po, stop," Viper said sternly, getting back on her feet. "Don't stoop his level."

Tai Lung sneered in the other boy's face. "Are you really going to listen to some girl, Fatso? What are you, her new project or something?"

Before Po could respond, Viper grabbed his elbow and pulled him away. "I'm sorry Tigress," she said flatly, "but your friend's giant head didn't leave any space for me with your group."

Tigress stopped laughing, becoming serious. "Viper, wait—"

"Let's go, Po," the black-haired girl growled, practically dragging the taller boy away from the scene. "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I didn't know he was such a douche. I should've listened to you."

All eyes were on the two as they walked out of the cafeteria.

Po shrugged her hand off his arm when they reached the hallway. "Yeah," he said indifferently. "Why don't you just ditch me now? I'm a nobody; a social disease, Viper, talking to me is marking you as a loser for life. Just go while you still have a chance to be somebody."

"No." Viper shook her head firmly. "If having a reputation means hanging out with that jerk all the time, I'll pass."

"What about Tigress?" Po asked quietly. He had never really liked Tigress. She was always cold and abrasive, and even though she didn't insult him directly she never tried to stop anyone and she always laughed along. The last time they spoke was in the eighth grade…

_Po picked himself up after another merciless beating from Tai Lung. He pressed the corner of his shirt onto his lip to stop the bleeding. _

"_Why don't you fight back?"_

_Po cast his gaze upwards and met the curious gold eyes of Tigress. Even back then she was a knockout; brown hair cut short around her ears, perfect smile and expertise sense of style, even if it was a bit guyish. The chubby boy shrugged. "Because, my dad told me not to fight. Violence is never the answer."_

"_But Tai Lung beats you up all the time. You have to do something."_

"_Maybe someday I will," Po responded. "But for now I'll just let him do it."_

"_That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Tigress glared at him. "Maybe you deserve every beating you get."_

_And with, she spun on her heel and walked away._

Viper shrugged, pulling Po out of his memory. "She's not who I thought she was. Do you want to skip next period and get something to eat?"

Po looked down at the girl, and realized she had tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying?"

Viper looked away, pulling at her hair. "Tigress is the childhood friend I told you about. The one my dad always made me practice Kung Fu with? She was so much better then me, but she never rubbed it in and she worked really hard—so I was never jealous. When I saw her, I thought I was hugging that girl I used to spar and get bloody knees with, not some bully that laughs at others expense."

"Well yeah. I told you, no one talks to me. I'm a nobody. I don't exist unless they need a punching bag."

Viper clenched her fist. "Then they're obviously boneheads! They don't deserve even a second of your attention! Now let's get some McDonald's; I'm hungry!" She grabbed Po's elbow and marched him out of the school, chattering excitedly as if she'd never been sad.

Po couldn't help but think the whole dragging him around by his arm thing was going to become routine. And, crazy as it sounded, he actually didn't mind.


	3. Ditch

**You guys.**

**You **_**guys. I want to cyber hug all of you.**_

**I have a confession to make. I'm not popular either—far from it in fact. While I haven't been bullied (because trust me, you don't want to bully me) my best friend is in a situation similar to Po's. He's a bit overweight, gets teased for it, and never defends himself. Usually he just takes it like Po does. He also suffers more problems that I'm going to introduce gradually.**

**This story is because I didn't do enough to help him. I hate bullying with a passion. He moved out of state now, and I can only hope he learns to defend himself. Or at least come up with witty comebacks like we (meaning his friends) could. **

**So, here's to all us unpopulars! Because you know what? We ROCK!**

**(also, been thinking about the setting. It's been changed to America. Don't sue me o_o)**

**Chapter 3: Ditch**

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><p>Po chewed his Big Mac self-consciously, as opposed to the girl next to him tearing into hers like it killed her dog. She would talk after each bite, and even if he didn't catch every word, Po loved it.<p>

In a word, he could only describe Viper as _amazing._

"We just jacked your brother's car, _hot-wired it, _skipped class, got fast food with money he left on the seat," Po grinned, "and it's only the first day of school. I don't know about you, but I'd be psyched if we could just get married now."

Viper giggled, playfully punching Po in the arm. "As long as you don't get ketchup on my brother's seat," she joked in response.

Po smiled; so incredibly content he could just die. "Wait, if your brother has his own car, why did you take the bus this morning?"

"He had an issue about being seen with me on the first day, or some girly problem like that," Viper explained. She took a fry and munched on it.

"That's….very stupid." Po raised his eyebrows. "You're some kind of genius, and yet you have a brother that's so…"

"Superficial?" Po nodded. Viper continued, "I know. But Mantis is a really good guy once you get to know him. At first he'd kind of…rude. But he's funny and warms up to people really fast. And he only seems rude because he's straightforward."

Po nodded in understanding. "So….are you guys still gonna try out for the martial arts team?"

"Well duh, it's why we came to this school."

"Even though Tai Lung's the captain?"

Viper spit out the sip of Sprite she had just taken. "Tai Lung's the _captain! _Why didn't you tell me?" Po fished around for words, but apparently took too long; Viper starting ranting. "To hell with the team! If that prick is captain…no! NO! Why would you even ask that! Gods, no!" She involuntarily started whacking him with her binder.

Po, using common sense, dropped his burger and raised his arms to protect his head. "AHHHH! I was just asking!" he screamed over Viper's yelling, curling into a fetal position.

"Sorry," she said calmly, anxiously eating her fries, "I'm just…I don't like bullies. They piss me off—a _lot._ I didn't mean to blow up like that."

Po relaxed after seeing she was more controlled. "It's alright. I don't like 'em either, but after being bullied since the sixth grade you get used to it." He shrugged and picked up his Big Mac again.

Viper dropped the French fry she was holding. She unbuckled her seatbelt so she could face Po. "You've been pushed around like that since middle school?"

"Yeah. I used to fight back when I was younger," he paused to take a huge bite, "but then I th'iscovered food." He swallowed and polished off the last few bites of his food. He tried to ignore Viper's dropped jaw and took a handful of fries.

"Po…" Viper whispered, tears in her eyes. "Why do you let them do that to you?"

Po chewed slowly. This felt his conversation with Tigress all over again. "Because, my dad told me violence doesn't solve your problems. I trust my dad."

Viper nodded slowly. She shifted suddenly and put a hand on Po's shoulder. "You're brave, Po," she said simply.

Po gulped and stared at her hand. Feeling his face heat up, he pointed at it. "Uhm…" Her hand was unbelievably soft; her nails painted the sweetest shade of blue. She was so girly…but at the same time, not too prissy…Blame it on years of girls shunning him, but he had no idea how to talk to one.

Viper let go quickly, gripping the steering wheel with both hands. She didn't touch her burger again, and Po had to resist the urge to ask her for it. "You ready to go back? Next period should be starting right about now."

Po nodded as he crumpled up his sandwich wrapper. "S-sure. Let's go."

She started the car again. As she pulled out of the McDonald's parking lot, she quietly asked, "Would you be mad if I did try out?"

"What?"

"Would you be mad if I tried out for the martial arts team?"

"No. It's your life; plus, that's why you came here." Po paused. "And, you could totally go there and kick Tai Lung's ass in front of his posse. Maybe teach Tigress a lesson too."

Viper cracked a smile. "You're pretty sinister for a nobody," she joked.

"It comes naturally," he responded seriously. She giggled again. Wow, did Po love that giggle. Something was telling him he wasn't good enough to deserve her attention; but he shooed away when she opened her mouth to speak.

"So…if you don't mind me prying…are you like, _into_ Tigress?" A sly smile curled on Viper's lips.

Po's mind shut down momentarily. "Wha…it's…I mean…eh…" he blinked rapidly and wetted his lips. He was positive he was blushing furiously now. "No." When Viper's eyebrows rose suggestively, he shook his head and pointed at her. "I'm serious! I r-really don't! She's…we're…we're not friends. And, I know what I said about being no one's friend, but I mean she really hates me. I dunno why, and I've never asked her, but—oh my gods, would you stop looking at me like that?"

Viper laughed again, turning into the school parking lot. "I don't know what you talking about," she said innocently.

"Viper…I really don't. We haven't said more then two words to each other since eighth grade—and back then she was basically telling my why I deserved to get my ass beaten everyday."

"If you're sure…"

"I am!" She bit her lip to hide a smile. He groaned loudly. "I _don't like her!_"

"Then why are you so defensive?"

"Because….because…" Po covered his face in his hands; he was telling the truth. Honestly. He felt nothing for Tigress, other then pure untainted fear. Which was just how she liked things. Viper parked the Mustang and started to collect the trash.

"You're not very good at pleading your case."

He dragged his fingers down his cheeks. "Ugh. You're so mean."

"Oh suck it up, Nobody. I won't tell."

"But I don't like her!"

Viper merely winked and climbed out of the car. "Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me! Now let's go; we have biology next!" She grabbed his elbow and dragged back trough the front doors.

Po dropped his voice to a whisper. Class wasn't quite over yet, and they needed to wait to slip in with the students. "With Mr. Shen? He frigging hates me!"

"Wow," Viper giggled excitedly. She paused in her tracks to grin widely up at Po. "A lot of people seem to hate you."

"I went through a fat-kid-emo-phase sometime in freshman year. I…did some pretty dumb things," he explained just as the bell rang.

"Let's go to my locker! Oh quit whining, yours is like right down the hall! We'll walk to class together, okay?"

"Vi—"

"Come on, Nobody!" She skipped off, pushing past students to get to her destination.

"—per." Po sighed, rubbed his temples, and followed behind her. He felt better when they were ditching.

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><p><strong>Short filler chapter is short...<strong>

**I just needed to build a bridge between here and the next chapter...**


	4. The Best Thing That's Ever Happened to P

**I'm back chickadees!**

**This chapter should've gone up yesterday with the update of Drabble Edition, but the ending felt wrong so I had to tweak it. And I was plotting something to happen in the near future. :D**

***cue evil laughter***

**In all seriousness though, I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Proofreading is like the Tai Lung, and I'm the Viper. We just don't get along together...**

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><p><strong><em>The Nobody<em>**

**_Chapter 4: The Best Thing That's Ever Happened to Po_**

Reality took its rightful place in Po's life when he walked into class.

Sitting in the back, staring studiously at her notebook sat Tigress—just as stoic as ever. She was surrounded by her usually group of friends, but didn't take part in the joking and laughing.

He gulped and froze mid-step. If he sat in the back, there was a good chance they might end up talking (aka, him getting insulted) but if he sat up front, there was a better chance Mr. Shen would kill him.

He would've stayed in that unsure state the whole class period if Viper hadn't grabbed his elbow. "Let's sit in the middle!" she said in a sing-song voice.

Duh. The middle. Why didn't he think of that?

"Uh, sure," Po said as he slapped his forehead. He followed behind Viper as she took a seat a few rows in front of where Tigress sat, yet four rows away from the front. With a grunt, he dropped into the desk and let his backpack fall to his feet. Viper sat next to him and aligned her binder with her desk, then sat ramrod straight, staring at the board.

An excited smile threatened to split her face in two. Po finally couldn't take it anymore; he leaned across the aisle and frowned. "Why are you so excited?"

"Because I _love _biology! And learning! You asked me that in the class before lunch," she responded, grin never leaving her face.

Po relaxed into his seat. "You're so weird," he stated simply, just as the bell rang for class to start. He slunk into his seat and tried to hide behind the dirty blonde girl sitting in front of him, while Viper leaned forward in anticipation.

A tall, slender old man with bird-like features stalked in from the hallway. He had a balding scalp, with stringy white hair in a ring around the crown of his head, and pale skin that practically gleamed. "Hello, students," he greeted them coldly. The old man turned sharply on his heel and picked up an Expo marker to carefully scrawl his name on the whiteboard. "Welcome to my class. I am Mr. Shen, and I can assure, this will not be an easy grade.

"Now, which one of you can tell me what we'll be learning in this class?"

All thirty students in the class suddenly feigned interest in their binders or shoelaces; anything to get out of being called by Mr. Shen—except one blue-eyed eager girl waving her hand in the air enthusiastically. Mr. Shen raised one bushy white eyebrow and pointed a long curling finger at her. "Yes, Miss…"

"Viper, sir," Viper said sweetly. A few kids gagged behind their hands, but she ignored them and kept her eyes on the teacher. "Biology is the study of life and living organisms; we'll be learning about their structures, functions, growth, origin, and evolution." She finished her explanation with another broad smile.

Everyone who had been making fun of could only gape.

Even Mr. Shen looked surprised. "Yes, that's exactly right, Miss Viper."

"TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" someone in the back of the room yelled.

A chorus of snickers rang through the class, only to be stopped when Viper put up a hand. She turned in her seat, smirking at the guy who had called out. "Don't patronize me; I'm a Ravenclaw."

Po laughed along with everyone, daring to sit up in his seat. Viper winked at him and turned to face the front again. Mr. Shen settled the class down and told them to get out their textbooks; as he was doing the command, Po felt something hit his head. A piece of paper rolled to the ground by his feet. He unfolded the note and read it, and then turned around to see who had thrown it. Nobody was even looking in his direction. For a moment, his gaze lingered on Tigress.

She was hunched over her desk, eyes on the passage he was supposed to be reading. Po couldn't help but find it weird; it was common knowledge that she was a straight-A student, but for some reason that never classified her as a nerd.

Maybe kung fu exempted people from being labeled.

"Mr. Ping!"

Po cringed and turned his seat to meet the eyes of his annoyed teacher. "Uh…y-yes sir?"

"Please read the assigned paragraph instead of ogling over your fellow students," Mr. Shen said pointedly, eyes narrowing. Viper made a tsking sound in the back of her throat, while other simply snickered at the blush growing on Po's face.

He ducked his head quickly, staring intently at the words in his book and forcing himself to focus. Despite his efforts, the words from the note replayed over and over in his head.

_Don't drag Viper into your problems. You may deserve it, but she doesn't._

**0o0**

Viper practically vaulted out of her seat when the final bell rang. As much fun as trigonometry was, and she said that with complete seriousness, it wasn't exactly enjoyable when the teacher was cramming homework down your throat on the first day. It also didn't help that she knew no one in the class; but did happen to befriend a shy, messy haired boy named Zeng.

But as much as she loved talking to Zeng – the kid was a riot when he finally dared to speak – she wanted to find Po.

Not for any particular reason other then to talk to him. Honestly, it made no sense why he was an outcast—he was funny, he was sweet, and he just had the most adorable little dimples…

A hand covering her eyes pulled Viper out of her thoughts. She emitted a yelp while digging her elbow into the attacker's stomach, then grabbing their wrist and easily flipping them onto the tile floors.

"Gods Viper, it's nice to see you too…" Mantis mumbled, dazed as he glared up at his sister.

Heat rose to Viper's cheeks, but she scoffed and offered him a hand. "You of all people should know not to sneak up on me."

Mantis continued glaring at her, even after being helped to his feet. Ignoring the horrified/amused looks of onlookers, he put an arm around Viper's shoulders, despite being only a few inches taller then her. "I thought I was prepared for it that time," he explained, using his other hand to mess up her hair.

Viper emitted another yelp as she tried to fix the mess Mantis created. "Prepared my a—"

Mantis wagged his finger at her, "Nuh uh, Miss Pottymouth. Daddy would go absolutely berserk if he heard his 'wittle angel' talking like that."

He snickered as Viper shoved him away, glaring menacingly. "That's why Daddy doesn't come to school." She smirked and reached forward, messing up his spiky black hair. "'Big' bro," she added teasingly, emphasizing how short he was.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. It's not like you've used _that _one before," Mantis said with a roll of his eyes. "Do you need a ride home, or did you want to catch the bus?"

Viper shrugged and hugged her binder closer to herself. "_Well_, now that you mention it, a ride home would be nice…but I think I'll pass."

"You _want _to ride the bus?" He fixed his red eyes on her suspiciously. "Should I be worried?"

"No, I just want to meet up with someone. And why are you wearing those?"

"Wearing what?"

"The colored contacts! They look stupid."

At this, Mantis covered his eyes self-consciously. "No, they look awesome. You say that because you're jealous. I'm secure; sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…and, uhm, any other overused cliché you're supposed to say to bullies." He flashed a grin at her then, despite her annoyed look, and shoved her arm. They walked out the school doors and down the steps; Mantis headed to his car and Viper to the buses. "See ya at home!"

"Bye!" Viper replied, already running in the direction of a certain plushy friend.

She walked up to him just as he was about to board the bus. "Hey, Nobody," she greeted him sociably, "How was your last class?"

Po shrugged, a smile taking over his face. "My Spanish isn't as bad as you'd think."

They walked up the few bus steps, Po first and Viper behind him (shooting death glares at anyone who looked ready to peg her friend with a wad of paper no less). "Are you ever going to go to Spain or something?"

"Nope," Po replied as he plopped into a seat. She sat down next to him, awaiting his explanation. "Actually, maybe. I don't know, I haven't really thought of it."

"You should go," she said, using her binder to deflect an incoming projectile aimed for Po's head, "it's insanely pretty there."

"You've been?"

She grinned. "Yup. We were planning on moving there too, but then my dad got promoted." Her smile suddenly dropped. "Hey, did you finish the biology homework in class?"

Po gave a derisive snort. "No, I was busy thinking about—I mean, I didn't finish reading the chapter in time." He chuckled nervously. "Did he really have to assign a report on the essay? I thought it was science, not English."

"Well, he did say it was going to be a tough class. Maybe you could come over to my house later so we can work on it together."

She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling as a happy grin worked its way onto Po's face. "R-really? I mean, yeah, sure, that'd be awesome!"

"Yay!" Viper responded. She pulled out her phone to exchange numbers with him. "Just send me a text when you're free and I'll tell you my address."

Finally, the smile made an appearance as he gave her an awestruck nod.

**0o0**

Nervous. Clammy. Freaked out. Anxious. _Terrified out of his mind. _

Those were a few words to describe what Po was feeling—and he wasn't even inside her house yet. At five o' clock, he had borrowed the keys from his dad, hinted at wanting a car for his birthday, and drove to Viper's house.

At 5:08 his jaw dropped; apparently, she lived in a _mansion._

At 5:10, he rang the doorbell.

And at 5:11, he got scrutinized from head to toe by a short, black-haired, red-eyed (wait, what?) boy that had a rather nasty cut on his upper lip that Po couldn't help but stare at.

"Who are you?" the boy finally said, opening the door a little bit more and revealing that he was more then just a floating head (he was a whole person that apparently could pull off an Abercrombie shirt).

Po gulped; there was an unmistakably hostile tone in his voice. Luckily, a familiar fragile hand came into view, yanking the boy away from the door. "That's my friend, dummy, and no you don't need to interrogate him." Viper reached out and grabbed Po's wrist, pulling him inside.

"Sticks and stones, Vi," the boy muttered in reply.

Inside the house was even more expensive-looking then outside. It was a soft cream color that was easy on the eyes; pillars surrounded the front door, and a small set of stairs lead deeper into the house. However, Po didn't have to ogle at the house because he was too busy ogling at the Viper and the boy.

In the few seconds he had spaced out, they had attacked each other over something, and now he held Viper in a tight headlock. She was going supremely purple in the face, and just when Po thought she would pass out, kicked the boy behind the knees and they both went down on the wooden floor.

Viper stood up quickly, brushing off the shirt she was wearing—blue, like the other one, but unlike before it had a giant peace sign on the front. She had also exchanged her skirt for a pair of baggy sweatpants. "Po," she panted, gesturing at the boy preparing to jackknife onto his feet, "Meet my brother, Mantis. Mantis, this is my friend Po."

So this was the infamous brother. He had expected him to be…taller.

"Uh, hey," Po said awkwardly, trying not to shift under the boy's threatening gaze.

"Hey," Mantis responded flatly, using his green shirt to dab at the cut above his lip. "I imagined you…skinnier."

"_Mantis!"_

Po jerked back. "I imagined you taller," he shot back.

Mantis' eerie red eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed when Viper delivered a smack to his shoulder. She turned to apologize to Po, but to her surprise both boys were shaking hands and smiling.

"You're alright, Po," Mantis said. He walked down the steps and disappeared behind a wall. "We'll finish that match later," he called over his shoulder. A second passed before he stuck his head around the corner, "And yes, this is my real eye color."

Po gaped at his back, then at his sister. "What were you guys doing?"

"Sparring," Viper said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "We were just too lazy to go to the dojo. But, enough of that, did you bring your homework?"

"Yeah." Po nodded, eyes still glazed over.

Viper took his elbow and pulled him down the few steps and to a larger staircase a few feet away. "Good, we'll get started then. Oh, I forgot to ask you on the bus, how come you didn't finish the chapter in class?"

They arrived at the top of the steps, where Viper pushed him down the long hallway and into her bedroom. It was painted a soft shade of blue, with posters lining the walls, a laptop sitting on the desk, and organized so perfectly it was almost intimidating. "I…I got this note and I was trying to figure out who sent it," Po replied, too busy gawking at the cleanliness to pay attention to what he was saying.

"Hey!" Viper snapped in front of is face, effectively bringing him out of his spaced out state. "What did it say?"

"The note?"

"No, the potato. _Yes _the note."

"Uh…" Po trailed off, suddenly not wanting to share. "…just some jerk calling me a nobody."

Viper frowned, and for one horrible second he though she didn't believe him. A small sigh of relief pushed out of his lungs when she folded her arms and scowled. "Don't forget, Nobody was able to kill a Cyclops in Greek mythology. But you're not here for a history lesson, you're here for biology. Go ahead and get comfy; I'll get us some snacks."

With that, she left the room and Po to go towards the kitchen (and probably fight with Mantis again). Po sighed as he sat down on the floor. Yesterday, he was a fat kid dreading to go to school, with no friends and no self-esteem.

And today, he was a fat kid sitting in a girl's room—and not just any girl, a _pretty _girl that had somehow decided to be his friend, with a lot more confidence then he'd had in years.

Viper was _definitely_ the best thing that had ever happened to him.


	5. Partnered Up

**Wow, it's been a while. I apologize for that. Updates should be weekly, or there about, now that I'm back into the groove of things.**

**This chapter contains languages in random amounts, just so you know. I really tried to edit some of it out, but I feel it fits better since it's more modern day and kids these days curse like _sailors_.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Partnered Up<em>**

**_..._**

Po shuffled into the classroom, gripping his ear with one hand and using the other to imitate a mouth talking. A few seconds later, his best friend followed behind, talking non-stop.

"Then I was like 'Mantis, you're so stupid' and he had the _audacity_ to punch me," Viper mimicked a punching motion as they found their seats, "and he tells me to shut up, so of course I rub it in his face that's _already_ failing a class and Progress Reports haven't even come out yet, and then he went totally _nuts _and flipped me on the granite counter and just _leaves _me there to writhe in frigging _agony_." She pauses, takes a deep breath, and finishes, "and _that's _why my back hurts so much."

Po nodded in mock fascination. "Cool story bro," he grinned at her, "Tell it again?"

He laughed as her face became a dark red, and managed to dodge her fist. "Jerk," she muttered, sliding into the seat next to him.

Po tucked his backpack underneath his desk and turned to her, just has she was getting ready to talk again. "Hey, this weekend the martial arts team is having its first practice. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind if you tagged along." She raised her eyebrows at him. "That, and Mantis said he wants you to witness his, and I quote, '_monumental ass-kicking'._"

"Are we thinking about the same team? Because nearly 70% of the team _I'm _thinking would _gladly _throw me off a cliff, and record my screams. Plus, I've seen Mantis fight, and you kind of sort of beat him every time." He paused. "Holy crap, please don't tell him I said that."

Viper stifled a laugh. "Tai Lung's captain, sure, but he's I heard he and his girlfriend are taking a road trip or something." She waved her hand, "I really didn't want details."

_No_, he should probably say, but her eyes did that big pleading thing and it's really hard to say no to that. "I'll think about it," he shrugged.

"Po Insert-middle-name-here _Ping_, I swear to every god that exists, if you turn down _one more _of my offers, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to _Jupiter._" Viper jabbed a finger into his shoulder, ignoring the terrified look he was giving her. "Come. With. Me."

"Sure, Vi," he squeaked. She smiled in triumph, settling back into her seat just as the bell rang. "Gods, how is Mantis still alive?" Po added under is breath as the teacher stalked into the room.

Viper, facing the front, half smiled. "He's pretty tough for a guy that's almost a legal midget."

That was how, only thirty seconds into third period, Po got a tennis ball chucked at him for laughing too hard.

Mr. Shifu, was an…_unconventional _teacher. He didn't believe in detentions, and frankly didn't want to spend even more time then he had to with his students, so instead, as punishment, he nailed their heads with tennis balls. Yeah he was old, but he was also the coach for the martial arts team. His aim was scary good.

"Y'ouch," Po muttered, rubbing the bruised spot on his forehead while other kids snickered behind hands—Viper included.

"Do not make me peg you again, Mr. Ping. I'd rather not send you to the nurse; she said she's sick of seeing you so often," Mr. Shifu snapped. He turned to the whiteboard and picked up an Expo. "Alright, students, today we will begin the _biggest _project you'll ever do in my class."

A chorus of gulps, gasps, and even one agonized scream rippled through the students. Po glanced at Viper (crazy girl looked like she was about to explode from excitement) who was excitedly shaking the shoulder of the girl in front of her. Sandy-haired, with bright green eyes (like his) and a shy smile; she turned at grinned back at Viper. Yuck. Bonding over an assignment of all things. Po couldn't quite remember the girl's name. Meng? Mu? Er…Mei?

Viper suddenly snapped in his face, pulling him from his thoughts and pointing at the board.

Mr. Shifu had written down all the requirements for the project: It had to be the history of a foreign cuture; it could focus on just one particular aspect, and they had to present it in a creative fashion in front of the whole class.

Oh, and he would be choosing partners.

"What?" Po cried, along with about half the class. He shrank back immediately, blushing, but still glared at his short, aging teacher.

"Hush!" Shifu demanded. "I will be choosing partners randomly, and no you may not bribe me or try to switch without my consent. The partners I choose are the partners you're stuck with, understood?"

Mumbled agreement met his question, but even Viper and Mei (he was sure that was her name) looked slightly annoyed by his decision.

"Excellent," Shifu went on. "I'll be drawing names out of a hat; and that person will be your partner." He strode to his desk and picked up a straw hat— homage to his Chinese ethnicity—and cleared his throat.

"Tai Lung and Dai Li," he said, almost grudgingly. Dai Li squealed and threw her arms around Tai Lung's shoulders, and he gave a cocky smirk; '_Yeah, me and my bodacious girl just got paired together—you jelly?' _

Po's fist clenched as the jock met his eye.

"Do calm down Miss Li," Shifu said as he glanced at his bucket of tennis balls. "Next is Crane and Viper."

Crane and Viper glanced across the room at each other; the former simply shrugging and the latter looking positively furious. Or, at least, Po thought she was furious, since her cheeks were flaming red and she looked like she was about to pop.

"Next are Mei and Zeng.

Ai and Min.

Ty Lin and Xi Lun.

Tigress and Po."

The whole class fell silent. Po's eyes widened and his heartbeat raced; he didn't dare look at his new partner. _Shit. Shiiiiiit. She's gonna kill me. Violently. Gods, why couldn't I be partnered with Viper…_

Tigress simply stared at her notebooks, a faint look of surprise etched on her features. The red streaks in her hair seemed to come to life in a Medusa-esque way, as if demanding that they switch partners or get trialed for murdering a fellow student. Po couldn't help but feel sorry for her, since Shifu was her dad and all, but wouldn't make an exception just for her.

Shifu listed the rest of the partners, then waved a hand and giving them permission to brain storm. "You should have an idea of what to do by Monday," he said, sliding into his seat and proceeding to ignore the class on his computer.

Viper and Po glanced at each other and sighed in sync. "That was unlucky," Viper hissed as she picked up her stuff.

"No, that was the universe deciding that I should die young," Po replied, trailing behind her as they made there way to where their partners were sitting.

Crane waved at amiably Viper over and was civil enough to smile at her. Tigress on the other hand…

She didn't look up from her notebook as Po sat in the desk next to her. "Listen, _Ping,_" she spat viciously, "I'll do all the work and stick your name on it—all you have to do is pretend we spent the whole month working on it. Got it?" Somehow, Po didn't think it was question.

"Er, I'm not really okay with that. Isn't it like…cheating?"

"That's the only way you'd ever make an A anyway," Tigress replied frostily. "Stop talking to me."

"But Mr. Shifu said we need to brainstorm together—"

"I don't give a _shit _what my father says." Her voice lowered as she added, "And that's talking." She picked up a pen and started writing. Po's eyes grew wide.

Notes like the one he'd gotten on the first day of school had shown up all over the place since—and it matched her handwriting to a _T._

However, pointing that out would lead to a craptastic death, so instead Po found himself saying, "You want to do it on ancient China?" he gestured to the list of ideas she was writing.

She paused and looked up. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No!" Wetting his lips, he elaborated, "It's just that _I _was gonna say we should do that."

Tigress' raised a single, perfectly shaped eyebrow, golden eyes boring into him. "Really?" Was that…surprise in her voice?

"Yeah! Totally! I'm a huge fan of all the ancient stuff. Like, er, k-kung fu…"

"So am I." Tigress leaned forward. "We should do our project on the ancient styles."

Po quickly agreed. "Definitely! You took the words right out of my mouth!" A shy smile formed on his lips.

"We could film it," she suggested, "As a movie trailer. Special effects, storyline—the whole nine meters."

Without waiting for his agreement, she wrote down everything being said eagerly.

"It could be called…um…" Po bit his lip in disbelief that he's actually _getting along _with Tigress of all people. "….uh Battle Cry?"

"Yes," she nodded. "It would be about…about….a girl." She ran a hand through her short hair, thinking. "A girl who…who wants to be the best warrior to ever exist. But she can't—women are frowned upon. Her father wants her to be a traditional lady, but her mother encourages her and helps her. Helps her find the best teachers in the whole country to teach her the styles. And at the end, she masters them all."

Po's jaw dropped and he slowly pointed at her notebook. "Th-that's awesome. You should write it down."

Tigress smiled to herself, happily copying down everything she had said. "We should meet at the library tomorrow. We can research all the styles there."

"S-sure. I'm free at three."

"Good. We'll meet then." The corners of her lip twitched, but quickly thinned out. "I don't like you," she blurted out, suddenly, venomously.

Po gulped, nodded. "Right. I know."

"Good."

"Heh, yep."

"Quite."

"Indeed."

An awkward pause fell between them. Luckily, the bell rang—and both jumped up, nearly knocking heads.

"Watch it," Tigress grunted. Po stammered an apology, waving goodbye at her then fleeing the room with Viper in tow—not giving her the chance to say a proper goodbye to Crane.

"Slow down, Speedy!" The girl chuckled as Po barreled over students. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to get out of there before Tigress decided to kill me." He wheezed, unable to regain his breath.

"Oh." Viper's smiled darkened. "I see. Listen, Po, if she ever causes you trouble…"

To her surprise, the chubby boy looked at her with twinkling eyes. "For some reason, I don't think she will," he said, sounding a bit confused. But he smiled nonetheless and she smiled back.

**Well, that's it for this chapter.**

**Really.**

**Goodbye now.**

**Adios.**

…

…

**If you're still here, then congratz I wasn't able to outsmart you!**

**If you're not, then the next chapter's gonna be confusing o_0**

**Why are you still reading this?**

**SCROLL MINION.**

He wasn't sweating.

Not really.

Just glistening— but only barely — since he had to bike through a frigging _sprinkler _because his dad wouldn't let him take the car.

Or, that's what he was going to tell Tigress anyway.

Speaking of, where was she? Po looked like a complete dork—twiddling his thumbs and checking his cell phone fifty times a minute then looking awkwardly about the library. It was 3:05. She should've been there a whole five minutes ago.

Maybe he was being stood up, except, not really, since this wasn't a date. Well, it was technically a study date but not a _date _date. Unless he looked at it that way; but that would be creepy since he didn't even like Tigress like that.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard her voice.

"Oh," clutching his racing heart, Po gave a weak smile, "It's just you. H-hey."

Tigress tossed her bag on the table and slid into the chair next to him, eyeing him curiously. "Hey…" she replied, a bit weirded out. "Have you started pulling up books yet?"

"Er, was I supposed to?"

She heaved a sigh and rested her chin on her elbows, accidentally, er, _emphasizing _how low-cut her tank top was. "That would've been helpful. We'll split them; you can do Hung Ga, Northern Preying Mantis, Dragon and…" she trailed off, racking her brain for another style. "…and Panda style." She pulled out her notebook again, writing stuff down as she says it. "I'll do Tiger," a pause to blush, since that's the style she practiced," Drunken Monkey, Fuijan White Crane, and Snake."

"Sounds good to me," Po replied nervously. She quirked another eyebrow at him before leaving to find the books she needed.

Around ten minutes later, both were crowded with nearly twenty book each on kung fu, and a notebook to write down important information. It wasn't, however, completely silent work—occasionally they would point out a fact ("'Did you know you don't actually have to be drunk to use the Drunken Monkey style?' no shit, Sherlock) and share almost-smiles and close-to laughs over it.

Po looked up, having written a solid two pages on Panda style alone, to see Tigress watching him. "Er, yeah? He asked, a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, nothing," she responded, smiling fondly. It wasn't quite directed at him, but he returned the gesture with a smile of his own.

Out of nowhere, breaking the shared gaze, came an obnoxious call of "_Tigress?"_

Tigress cursed under her breath. Po buried his face in a book.

"It is you!" The voice's owner strolled up to the girl, showing off her petite figure in a too-tight shirt and a too-short skirt. "What are you doing here?" Dai Li asked, sweeping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Studying, Li," Tigress said, cheerily enough. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Tai-Tai—" Po nearly laughed out loud at the way Tigress winced at the admittedly horrible nickname- "Wanted to pick up some books for our project. It's about the Trojan War." A breathy sigh passed through the girls' lips. "Aren't Helen and Paris _romantic?"_

Tigress had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing, tears squeezing out of her eyes as she nodded.

"Anyway," Dai Li continued, oblivious to her utter stupidity, "I'm _so _sorry about being partnered up with Fatso of all people." A sly smile curled on her lips. "Has he tried to eat you yet?"

Po grunted indignantly, trying to figure out if Dai Li really couldn't see him or if she was just being dense.

Tigress laughed half-heartedly. "No, haha, he hasn't yet, ha. Ha." Her voice iced over quickly.

"Chill, Tigress," Dai Li said coolly. "Why're you so protective of his fat ass?"

"I'm not."

"You so are."

"I'm _not._"

"Definitely are."

Ready to end the pointless argument, Tigress dropped her pencil. "Fine. I am. What are you going to do about it?"

Po stiffened as he heard a deeper voice butt in, "What's up, Tigress?"

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit…_

"Hey, Tai Lung," Tigress greeted him, sounding impossibly bored. "I'm just studying."

"Oh." His eyebrows shot up. "Ohh, with Fatso right? I'm guessing he's the blimp trying to hide behind a _Hung Ga for Dummies _book?"

Dai Li yelped, as if she hadn't known he was there, and Tai Lung laughed as he swatted the book out of Po's hands. He acknowledged the other boy's existence with a tight nod and his eyes focused on the table.

"Hey there, Fatso. Where's the girlfriend?" When Po didn't answer, Tai Lung smacked him on the back of the head. "I'm talking to you, Ping."

"Don't have one," Po mumbled, facing blooming red.

"Oh _right._ That one girl—blue eyes, crazy nerd—you're just her little project." He waved the air near his head, chuckling. "Slipped my mind _completely."_

"Tai, could you leave? We're kind of busy," Tigress cut in suddenly. She was unreadable as stone, yet the tone of voice she had was threatening enough to make Tai Lung hesitate.

"I'll leave in a sec. Chill," he told her, grinning madly at Po. "I just want to talk to my _favorite _Fatso, that's all."

For one, awesome moment, Po thought Tigress would come to his defense again. But she crushed his hopes by shrugging and relaxing in her seat.

"Tigress?" he choked out, a single plea. _Please help me. _

She studied him closely. "What, Ping?"

She was going to make him say it. "_Help_," he begged, voice a quite echo in the library.

Tigress really had to pause, to think, before shaking her head slightly. "No." The almost overwhelming urge to tell him to fight back consumed her, but she swallowed it and remained emotionless. "You _deserve _it," she hissed, voice low. Then, because she hadn't hurt him enough, added, "Fatso."

Wincing at the harshness in her voice, Po's face hardened. _That frigging—_

Po's thought was cut off by the sudden blow to his head, which sent him reeling forward. His nose slammed against the table, and for a second he could _taste _the pain, and then Tai Lung was jerking him to his feet by a handful of hair. "It's been a while since I beat the shit out of you, yeah?" The muscular boy asked, smirking. He shoved Po, making him trip over his chair and collapse on the ground.

"Stop," he said feebly, head throbbing.

Tai Lung smiled, "Nah."

Then the real beating began.

Dai Li, the idiot, cheered on her boyfriend as he beat Po into a pulp. It's strange, how Tigress had watched him do it since middle school and never felt quite as sick as she did then. A sudden wave of compassion washed over her, and she had to fight it back.

_He deserves it_, she thought, though had trouble believing the theory. _I shouldn't help him. He **deserves** it. _But, as she looked at the blood leaking from Po's nose, her heart plummeted to her stomach and sat there, heavy and mocking. _He deserves it…_ Her gaze met his, and she could see tears welling up in his eyes, and damn it all, this was her fault. With one last groan of pain, Po shut his eyes tightly, and her thoughts went nuts.

_He deserves this...right?_

And then all hell broke loose inside her, because for once, she just isn't sure.

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><p><strong>In case you weren't aware, I have asked KristentheKittyKat to co-author this with me. She came up with Tigress' last thoughts there (do you love it? Because I really love it) and some stuff for next chapter. She also helped me decided on a few more things, which I'm eternally grateful for.<strong>

**Have you read her story Unwanted yet? WHY NOT IT'S FUGGING AMAZING.**

**Like, no joke. I love it xD**

**tl;dr KristentheKittyKat is amazing and deserve cyber hugs from all of you.**

**Again, my most sincere apologies for the wait, and giant hugs to everyone who's reviewed so far. Also almond cookies. And no, I didn't take them from Monkey. YOU HAVE NO PROOF.**

**See you soon, with the next chapter that hopefully will make you tear up just a tinyyy bit.**


	6. Po is Done

**ELLLOOO Trusty readers!**

**It's been like, a week right?**

**Well, if you must know, this weekend I got kinda sick. I'm pretty sure I caught Tigress' river fever.**

**Wait, you don't know what I'm talking about!**

**Well, the new TV show just put up previews! Yes—previews! We get to watch 4 clips of the first episode now! I won't ruin it for you but it's actually kind of funny (well, anything with Tigress is anyway) and also rather cheesy, but at the same time quite awesome. I'm looking forward to it. Also, on Sept. 19th there's going to be a special preview at 11am!**

**I'm not going to go deeper into it, for the sake that this author's note isn't as long as the chapter XD**

**But one last thing: If you watch Scorpion's Sting: Tigress' cold PAUSE AT :24. That face just kills me for some reason or another XD**

**This chapter is named for that one episode of Drake and Josh that almost had me in tears.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Po is Done<em>**

**_..._**

"I'm going to kill her."

Po winced as the pressure Viper placed on his eye increased. The black-haired girl was maintaining a scary calm, despite seeing blood and bruises in varying amounts all over Po's body.

"You don't have to do that," he chuckled, though it died quickly when she glared at him.

He sighed and rested his head back on her couch cushion, trying to erase the vivid memory of the beating out of his mind. Tai Lung had left him curled in the fetal position on the floor of the library, sneering and dragged Tigress and Dai Li with him. His idiotic girlfriend threw insults at him left and right—half he hadn't heard due to the overwhelming pain—and Tigress had simply stared. It was an unnerving stare—like she was trying to stab him and hug him at the same time, while also wanting to drop to her knees and cry or maybe punch the nearest wall.

But, he could've been hallucinating.

It was a stroke of luck Mantis had come to the library when he did. Po was in too much pain to move, and in no state to bike home. Mantis had freaked out, then slung the taller boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and taken him to the car, raging about idiots all the while.

Viper went nurse mode almost immediately upon seeing her broken friend, she had Mantis lay him on the couch, get a first aid kit, an ice pack, and call Mr. Ping to let him know Po would be spending the night (no need to let the sweet old man know what had happened).

"I'm going to kill her," Viper repeated, dabbing at his lip with a damp rag. Her voice was breaking and tears had started to well in her eyes. "And I'm going to celebrate and sleep like a baby afterwards."

And then, to Po's surprise, she collapsed and grabbed onto his shoulders and started to bawl. Mantis returned at the same time, a bottle of water in hand—which he dropped at the sight of seeing his sister shake with sobs. "What happened, Vi?" he asked gently, putting a protective arm around her shoulders.

Viper balled the fabric of Po's shirt in her fists. "She was my best friend, my best friend in the whole frigging _world _and she just sat there and watched – frigging _watched _Tai Lung and didn't even try to stop him!" The girl seethed. Her head shot up, glaring daggers at Po. "And you! You're an idiot, you hear me? Why didn't you fight back? You could've defended yourself—and…and…" she trailed off with a weak curse, shoulders shaking.

"Hey," Mantis said quietly, "It's all good. We can kill Tai Lung and his little girlfriend at practice…and," He paused and looked at Po, desperate for something else to say.

Po shrugged; _don't look at me._

Mantis grunted and resumed his little speech, "I dunno what Tigress can do, but it'll be painful and caused by you."

To his relief, Viper managed a chuckle. "Gee Mantis, that's so reassuring."

"I try."

The girl pushed him away, smiling slightly. Her expression turned guilty as she looked at Po. "I'm sorry," she said, taking an ice pack and pressing it to his eye. "You're the one with the shit beaten out of him and here I am, bawling like a child."

"It's okay." Po cracked a weak smile. "I've never had someone cry for me before. It's kind of nice."

"Don't get used to it."

"Wasn't planning to."

Strangely enough, a time that should've been miserable and agonizing ended up bearable. Po Ping decided he loved having friends.

He also decided not to drag them into his problems.

When Monday rolled around, he was sporting a magnificently black eye, a swollen lip, a sprained wrist, and two bruised ribs. He walked with a slight limp down the halls, giving kids another thing to stare or snicker at.

With the hand that wasn't wrapped in a make-shift cast, Po opened his locker and organized himself for the day. He acted preoccupied, which gave him a good excuse to ignore the girl standing behind him.

"Po," she said again, her voice less confident then it had been the first time. If he had turned around, he would see that she was an absolute wreck—untidy hair shoved underneath a wool hat, baggy sweats hanging loosely on her body; eyes bloodshot with purple bags beneath them, like she hadn't slept in days.

He whistled pleasantly, shut his locker, and walked away without even giving her the time of day.

However, she refused to give up. "Po!" she ran after him, dropping papers and books in her wake and not bothering to pick them up. She said his name again, to no avail, and simply slowed her run—hand still out in front of her like she was reaching for someone.

For him.

"Shit," she whispered. Her fingers curled in a way that said they were repulsed by her too, and then her knees joined in by giving way beneath her.

There was a cry of her name ("Tigress!") and footsteps running in her direction, hands shaking her shoulders, but honestly she didn't care. Her stomach felt like it was imploding and muscles had simply melted. She wasn't crying – she didn't cry, ever – but she squeezed her eyes shut because they felt like they were melting in their sockets.

**Next Week, Tuesday**

Po had to admit, she was persistent. Annoyingly so. She sat next to him at lunch, pushing her tray beside his, trying to find his eyes.

"Please, just hear me out—"

He didn't respond—simply stood and walked away; brushing by Viper on his way out the door. She tried to question him, but he just kept walking as if he hadn't heard.

He left her at the table, hand outstretched, looking worse then she had the day before, and the contents of her lunch spilled in front of her. For one, fleeting moment, she met Viper's eye—but the girl glared and spun on her heel, turning away from Tigress just like everyone else seemed to be doing.

The worst part was he almost felt bad about doing it too. Then his wrist started throbbing and he remembered that he was doing this for a reason.

**Wednesday**

Crane was the first to confront her.

"Are you sick?" he asked worriedly, a hand gently on her shoulder. She didn't have the strength to shove him off. "You haven't eaten in like, three days."

"I'm fine," she said coldly, trying to brush by him to leave the empty math class.

"That's bull." A frown etched itself deeply into his features. His grip on her shoulder tightened, spun her around and forced her to face him. "What's wrong?"

Her fists clenched. "Nothing." For some reason, Tai Lung and Dai Li had kept the little 'incident' to themselves, for a reason she couldn't put her finger on. There was no way Crane knew what was going on. "I'm fine, really."

"Stop lying."

Her fight left her in a whoosh of air. "I…I screwed up," she said quietly, dejectedly. "I _royally _screwed up, Crane—I hurt someone that didn't deserve to be hurt, and it's driving me _crazy_." Never had she sounded so weak.

Crane hadn't been expecting the sudden explanation, but he recovered from his shock quickly. "Listen," his tone was kind, understanding, "I know you Tigress, and I know you're going to fix whatever happened. But do me a favor and eat something—you're looking like a stick and Shifu's not going to be happy if you collapse from starvation during practice."

She smiled weakly. "You're a good friend, Crane," she said quietly. After promising to have lunch, he let her go—but she could still feel his gaze on her back and the worry that seemed to radiate off him.

It was unfortunate that her next class was biology—where Mr. Shen had given them a seating chart. Without knowing her inner turmoil, he had placed her next to Po.

It was torture, to say the least.

Her hands shook visibly, her voice cracked whenever she spoke, and she pulled tirelessly at her hair to the point where it came out in sickly clumps. Maybe the talk with Crane gave her hope, or maybe she just hadn't had enough, but she scribbled out a note and placed it gently on his desk.

_Just listen to me. Please. _

She received a response, surprisingly.

_What, no more warnings? No more threats to keep me away from Viper? I don't care what you have to say anymore. Leave me __**alone. **_

He circled alone and underlined it and went over it at least fifty times. She could only stare at the paper, certain no response would've hurt less then that.

**Thursday **

Po skipped History that day.

It was surprising he hadn't done it before, seeing how he spent the class buried in a book anyway, detached from the world.

He had gone up to the classroom, placed a hand on the doorknob and made to turn it, but couldn't gather the strength. He sighed, loudly and heavily, before letting go. Through the door's window, he could see Viper. She was talking to Crane, looking happy, but every now and then her gaze would leave him, flicker to the door, and she would sigh.

He winced. Staying away from her was the hardest part.

Then, without meaning to, he saw Tigress. She was staring at nothing, hand idly tracing circles in her desk. A pile of crumpled up papers were pushed on the edge of her desk, and it would only occur to him later what it was.

The girl he was convinced he hated was pulled out of whatever evil thoughts she'd been thinking by her father, who brought a fist down on her desk and pointed at the papers. He yelled something, he could tell by the vein popping out in Shifu's neck, and she simply nodded at him, as if in a trance.

Seconds later, Po was running down the empty hall. It made his ankle burn like fire and is breath bubble in his chest, but he needed to get away from her as fast as possible.

**Friday **

"Tigress, something's wrong."

She looked up from the nails she'd been gnawing, meeting the worried eyes of Monkey and Mei Ling. She looked down again, scoffing, "Did Crane tell you to ask me that?"

"No," Mei Ling shook her head, sand-colored curls bouncing as she did so. "It's obvious. You look like death warmed over."

Tigress scoffed again. "Maybe I want a new look."

"A new look?" Monkey's brow furrowed. "Tigress, you look like a zombie. That's the dumbest look I've ever heard of."

She got mad. It was a stupid thing to get mad about, really, but she did anyway. Her hands slammed down bench they were sitting on, and she screamed—loudly. A roar, really. Both her friends flinched and jerked back.

"I screwed up, okay? I screwed up _badly _and now I have no idea how the hell I'm supposed to make things right!" her eyes were burning, that melting sensation returned. Quieter, she repeated, "I have _no _freaking idea, and it's _killing _me." She looked at them, voice cracking. "You don't know what it's like to have someone hate you—and they should hate you, and you _know _that you deserve every last drop of what they dish at you but it still hurts like hell anyway."

Then she simply stood and walked away, ignoring their calls and apologies and just walked.

Fate struck then, though to her it felt like a brick wall. She looked up to meet the golden eyes of the idiot who started this. "Hey," Tai Lung said amiably, as if he hadn't ruined her sense of right and wrong at all.

She responded with a swift knee to his gut and a spin-kick to his back. Seething, she stepped over his wheezing form. "Go," she hissed, "_die."_

Oblivious to what was going on in the cafeteria, Po walked shamelessly to the principal's office. He rubbed his wrist and chewed his lip, trying to figure out if maybe, just maybe, the principal had figure out he had Viper had skipped class that one day.

His fist hadn't even knocked when he heard the kind old man on the other side of the door. "Come in."

Trying to calm himself, Po turned open the doorknob and stepped inside. "You wanted to see me, Principal Oogway?"

"Yes Mr. Ping. Please, have a seat."

**Saturday**

Viper spent her afternoon playing card games with her family.

Mantis was about to win the game of Spoons when the phone rang. Smiling, Viper got to her feet. "I'll get it," she said sweetly, hopping over her mom to reach the landline.

"Hello?"

On the other end of the phone came a sigh, and then a voice so quiet she had to strain to hear it. "Viper, I need to talk to you."

If she hadn't been so shocked, Viper would've screamed. Instead, her voice squeaked, "Tigress?"

"Can we meet somewhere? I really need your help."

"Now just why the _hell _would I want to talk to you—"

"Please, Viper. I can't have you ignore me too."

Viper glanced over to her family, who was laughing at something Mantis had said. She frowned, took a deep breath. "Fine. Be at the dojo in twenty minutes." She couldn't help but throw in, "And I swear to every god that exists, if you're lying to me again, I'm going to make your life hell."

But as angry as she was, Viper's heart still broke as Tigress' cracking voice carried into her ear. "As it is, my life is already hell. But thanks. I appreciate this."

The dial tone followed, and Viper was looked awfully confused as she explained to her family just why she had to leave, and just why she was taking a bo staff with her.

* * *

><p><strong>"I do <em>not <em>-ACHOOO- have a co...co..ACHOOO- a cold!"**


	7. Mints, Portmanteaus, and Bo Staffs

**Hey Guys!**

***ducks to dodge rotten tomatoes being thrown at her head***

**Yeah, I know I said something about chapters being weekly...last chapter...and it's been like 3 weeks...eheh...**

**But you know what's hard? School. And real life. I've got math, Spanish, science, english, history, home ec, and a billion other things on the brain 24/7. But you don't want excuses, you want a chapter.**

**I admit, this chapter got to be longer then I expected, and Lord have mercy was the first part hard to write. Inspiration didn't hit as hard as I thought it would. If it's boring and dull and lifeless compared to the second part, I apologize. I also apologize for this being so freaking late. Like, I ddidn't know time went by that fast. **

**Anyway, here's the chapter!**

_**Mints, Portmanteaus, and Bo Staffs**_

Po really hated thinking of himself as a bad kid. His good hand was quaking as he pulled up a seat, trying to guess if Mr. Oogway had learned about skipping classes.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked shakily, falling into a sitting position as Principal Oogway had asked.

"Not at all Mr. Ping." Oogway said amiably. He fixed his bifocals and pushed a bowl of mints towards Po. "Do you want a mint?"

"Er, no thanks." Po shifted in his wooden chair, growing mildly uncomfortable. Oogway only added to his uneasiness by staring at him with a semi-creepy smile on his face.

"I see," the old man – at least in his seventies – started with a quiet smack of his lips, "that you've gotten in another fight. You know, violence is not the answer to everything."

Po rubbed his forehead, winced when he touched a bruise, and sighed quietly. "Uhm, yeah, my dad says that a lot. And it's not like I want this to happen to me it just…does."

Oogway nodded. "Would you like a mint?"

"…No thank you," Po repeated himself, frowning and honestly hoping that he wouldn't end up repeating everything he said.

"If you're sure." Oogway reached forward and plucked a red-and-white mint from the glass bowl. "You know, life is like a mint."

"Really? How?"

Oogway popped the candy into his mouth. He shrugged, hummed, and began to crunch at it. "I dunno," he said finally.

Po leaned back in his chair with a slight huff. So much for words of wisdom. "Alright then…"

Ooogway swallowed so loudly, it made Po cringe. "But I do know that what you're doing, or what Tai Lung is doing, isn't healthy." He reached forward to grab another mint. "Look at yourself Mr. Ping, and don't tell me you're fine. I know a beating when I see one."

_Crunch crunch crunch._

Po cringed again. "Yeah, I must look pretty awful, huh?" he gestured to the whole of himself. "But I'm trying to handle this, Mr. Oogway, honestly. If I don't do anything he'll stop; you just said violence isn't the answer."

"I did, didn't I…" Oogway mumbled, and reached for his third mint. "You know, my doctor says I shouldn't chew these mints. Bad for my teeth…or," he chuckled, "lack of them." He opened his mouth, to Po's disgust, and tapped on his teeth. "Dentures, these are. The hard candy is bad for them."

And, as if he hadn't said anything at all, began to chew his mint.

He didn't say a word, just crunched in silence, while Po fixed him with a perplexed look. However, he didn't say anything. Maybe Oogway was just being weird, and that was normal for old people, right?

_Crunch crunch crunch._

Po rested on the back of his chair as he realized Oogway wasn't going to say anything more. He whistled quietly, trying to drain out that annoying—

_Crunch crunch crunch. _

He wondered what Viper was doing. Probably thinking about how much of an idiot he was. Not that he blamed her.

_Crunch. Cruuuuunch._

Good lord, how many had the old man had?

_CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUUUUNCH—_

"Principal Oogway!" Po burst out. "Don't you think you should stop?"

His principal shook his head. "No," he said lightly.

Po's eyebrow twitched. "But didn't your doctor said—"

Oogway interrupted him with a loud CRUUUNCH. "So?"

"…Sooo…you should stop."

The old man seemed to think it over. "Nah." He reached for his, what seventh?, mint…

But Po knocked his hand away from the bowl. "No," he said firmly. "It's not good for you."

Principal Oogway raised his eyebrows at the teenager.

"Oh." Po's hand retreated instantly. He smacked it to his forehead, face paling and thinking up all the consequences that could come out of smacking your principal's hand. None of them were good and each involved months in a prison of some kind. "Ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" he was nearly hyperventilating.

Oogway wasn't offended in the slightest. He laughed and pointed a finger at Po. "Calm down, boy. You see, my crunching was bothering you, right?"

"…well…maybe a little…"

"Hm." Oogway nodded, "And doing nothing didn't make me stop. But, when you became a little bit forceful, I understood that you were being serious."

Po nodded slowly, paused, and made a face. "I have no idea what you're trying to say."

"Po, doing nothing isn't the same thing as trying to remain peaceful," Oogway said patiently. "I said violence _isn't_ the answer, but I never said that doing nothing _is."_

Po nodded again this time smiling. "So what you're saying is that I don't have to let Tai Lung walk all over me, 'cause that's not the only way to avoid violence?"

Oogway tapped his nose. "That about sums it up."

"So there is a method to your madness," Po said excitedly.

"Mhm." Oogway leaned forward and lace his fingers together. "Which is why I believe you should join a sports team of some sort, in case you need some force behind what you're trying to say. And please, pardon me if I'm being nosy, but this is just from what I've witnessed in the past few years."

Po shook his head, "No, you're not being nosy at all. I'll look into some teams or something…"

"That," Oogway smiled, "is a marvelous idea."

Po stood quickly, grinning. "Yeah, I'll try that. Uh, thanks Mr. Oogway. May I leave now?"

Eyes twinkling, Oogway shooed him away. "Of course boy. Would you like a mint before you leave?"

"Uh, I'll pass," Po said hurriedly. He turned to leave before pausing midstep. "Hey…could I get some advice?"

"Why of course."

A bit embarrassed, Po rubbed the back of his head. "Well, there's…this…there's this girl—" he stopped abruptly and mentally smacked himself. He wasn't going to stoop low enough to asking his _principal_ of all people about girls.

"Nevermind," Po said quickly. Without waiting for a reply, he tripped over to the door and raced out of the office.

A sad smile on his lips, the principal sighed. He looked at the bowl of mints on his desk. "I don't even like these," he said with a hint of surprise in his tone.

**Meanwhile...**

Two girls sat on a green wooden bench, a mirror at the their backs. One looked livid and ready to run to her car, take her weapon, and beat it over the other girls' head. The other seemed nervous—a look that didn't fit her solemn features. She was staring at her toes peeking over the edge of her flip-flops and seemed to be thinking of the many different defense tactics she would be forced into using before the end of the meeting.

The first girl, hair braided down her back and wearing a graphic T with sweatpants, gave the appearance of an angel.

With fire in her eyes.

It was quite terrifying actually.

Well, Tigress decided as the first girl continued to give her a withering glare, good news was Viper hadn't killed her yet. Bad news…

"You're sick," the black haired girl spat. "And pathetic. And awful."

Tigress sighed. "So I've heard…"

Viper jabbed a finger in her shoulder, "That makes you sawfthetic." She paused. "Which is really insulting, just so you know."

Nodding, the taller girl attempted to swallow her annoyance. "I figured," she mumbled. "But Viper, as much as I probably deserve it—"

"Probably!"

She grimaced. "Fine, as much as I _do _deserve it, there are more pressing matters at hand then whether or not you chew me out." When Viper opened her mouth to speak, Tigress held up a hand. "Would you just listen to me?"

Viper frowned but gave a tight nod.

"Thank you," Tigress cleared her throat. "I just…well not just, but I need—or, eh want-" her voice cracked here "-to be…to have him- no you- no _both _of you…" Another grimace overtook her face. This had been a lot simpler in her head.

It didn't help that Viper was trying to hide a wide smirk—and failing horribly. To make matters worse, she stubbornly chose to stay silent and make the other girl find the words herself.

Actually blushing at how flustered she was, Tigress looked off to the side. "Stop that," she threw in, "you're not helping."

"I never agreed to help. I agreed to listen." Viper's smirk widened. "So speak."

Tigress cursed under her breath. "Fine. I…what I'm trying to say is that," she paused to inhale deeply and mentally prepare herself for a serious blow to her pride, "I want you to forgive me." There, she said it.

Viper's face was unreadable. Her eyebrows were raising and dropping periodically, while her nose flared and her eyes would glow and dim again. It was slightly unnerving, honestly, to see that number of emotions drowning a person's face in so little time.

"You don't have to answer me now," Tigress added quickly. "But I…I have to admit, I'm not the same girl I was when we were kids. Or at least, I don't act like her. I wish I did. It's not because I don't want to, or that I'm lacking in courage, but…being _this _now is so much easier." She sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands. "And that is at the top of the list of biggest mistakes I've made. I look more like a coward then any moron in history ever could."

Her hands dropped back into her lap with a quiet slap. Tigress felt (more then slightly) humiliated about pouring out everything within seconds to some who wanted to toss her off a cliff. Not that it wasn't necessary, it really was, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing.

Viper wasn't helping matters either. She shifted in her seat, playing with her wristband rather then looking at Tigress. It sounded like she was mumbling to herself, and kept glancing at the door, as if she wanted to leave. Finally, she sighed and looked up. "You're a horrible person," she said quietly, and it hit Tigress like a slap. "A really, really, terrible person." She looked off to the side, and Tigress found herself trying to follow her eyes. "But…I think everyone has a good side to them. And I _know _you have one, if you could just break through your abrasive shell." With lips drawn in a tight line, the girl fell silent.

Tigress knew what was coming next. She braced herself for the force of a kick slamming into her…

"That's why I'm going to forgive you."

Jeez, why was she taking so long—

"What?" Tigress squeaked. It wasn't a sound that she usually made, but at that moment, every part of her forgot serious, solemn, 'give me a funny look and I'll kick your ass' Tigress and replaced it with a squeaking, surprised, caught way off guard version of herself.

"Yeah, I'm crazy," Viper said. "But I will forgive you. You…well, I was probably being hard on you when I called you all those things." A short pause, and then, "Sorry, by the way. You didn't deserve that."

Tigress nodded slowly. "It's okay. I did. I do, still. In fact, I'm really surprised that you just forgave me and apologized at the same time."

Viper snorted. "I could tell. Squeaking doesn't really fit you."

Fleeting smiles met her comment. "…well," Tigress said after a beat of silence, "since that's been taken care of…there's another matter that needs to be addressed."

Viper's eyebrows rose up, but she didn't look too surprised. "I figured. You want me to help you get Po's trust back, right?"

_Note to self; Viper is perceptive. Might be a mind reader. _"Yeah," she mumbled. As an afterthought, she chuckled bitterly, "Doesn't that sound awful? I can't even apologize to a blubber ball the right way. Shit, I must be a failure of a human being."

"Yeah, you kind of are," Viper said as she sympathetically patted the girl's shoulder.

Tigress rolled her eyes, "You are the picture of empathy."

"Oh do stop; I'm blushing."

Impressed that Viper had met her sarcastic tone with one of her own, Tigress gave a quick laugh. "That's all fine and dandy – the insulting me part – but I still don't have a clue about what to do about…" she gulped, shut her eyes, and felt her face flushing, "Po."

Viper leaned on the back of the bench. "I don't either," she said, somehow missing that completely uncomfortable expression on Tigress' face. "He hasn't talked to me in over a week." Her face saddened considerably. "He won't talk to Mantis either. I think…something happened – beyond what Tai Lung did and what you didn't – and he blames it on me…"

Tigress shook her head firmly. "Not a chance," she said, feeling confident. "There's nothing he can blame you for, other then making his life suck a bit less."

Viper blinked, obviously taken back, and smiled slightly. "Oh, uh, thanks. I guess. Tat's reassuring."

The flush returned when Tigress spoke again, "Would you…possibly…help me make it up to him?" Hurriedly, she added, "I mean, I just need to talk to him. And I know he doesn't trust me now – hell he won't even give me the time – but if I could just say a few words…and have him _listen _…" she trailed off.

The idea didn't seem to settle with Viper too well. "I may forgive you, but that's doesn't mean I trust you any more then Po does."

"Please?" Tigress asked. Viper crossed her arms resolutely and looked away. "I feel bad. Guilty." She pointed at herself. "It's worse then being beat up—at least I can take medicine for that. Advil doesn't exactly cure this stupid guiltiness…"

"You think you could _possibly_ feel worse then he does?" Viper snapped. "You weren't there when he was nearly frigging _unconscious _and bleeding and—" she shut up promptly, a deep frown on her face and eyes prickly with tears. "He feels worse," she whispered, following with a vehement curse and rubbing away stray tears.

Tigress felt nauseous. "I know that," she snarled, "and I'm trying to make things better."

Viper chewed her lip thoughtfully. It was obvious enough that every part of her was demanding she go get her bo staff and threaten to shove it down the other girl's throat (though there were no ideas on what the outcome of that would be) but it also seemed like a part of her was nagging at her own hypocrisy.

She was mad at Tigress for sitting there and doing nothing…and now, she was actually contemplating doing the same thing.

This girl, sitting next to her and looking downright humiliated, was so much like her childhood friend. The one that would punch someone's lights out for being even slightly rude; the one that would rather die then watch some innocent person get beat up.

The nagging spot in her brain jumped about wildly, commanding that she help this girl or _so help me you'll feel this guilt in your grave._

"Damn conscious," Viper muttered. Tigress looked up, quirking an eyebrow, but had the decency to not comment on it.

Sighing, Viper leaned forward on her knees. "Listen, I'm still pissed at you—"

"I don't blame you," Tigress interrupted. She rubbed her temple; if Viper said no then she could kiss sleeping goodbye. And eating. And ever feeling like an actually person.

Damn it all; she was too young to be this stressed.

"But I'll help you," Viper said reluctantly.

Tigress blinked. She felt so relieved, it made her light-headed. "Thank you. You're really an awesome person for putting up with me, even though I'm…me."

"Damn straight," Viper nodded. "But don't be so hard on yourself. It's not like _you _were the one to beat him up. I don't hate you half as much as I could."

Both of them took on confused frowns. "Well, thanks then," Tigress said after a pause. "Will you be saying strange things like that often?"

The other girl shrugged and stood. "Maybe you just bring out the weird in me."

Tigress shook her head as they both walked towards the exit. "Trust me; you didn't need my help with that."

After that exchange, it was decided that Tigress would get a ride home from Viper (seeing how Shifu wouldn't answer his phone and Tigress didn't want to walk home in the heat). Tigress was about to buckle her seatbelt when her eyes narrowed. She gave Viper a perplexed look wile reaching for the bo staff resting below the windshield.

She raised it up, expression inquiring.

Viper blushed and plucked it out of her hand. "It was to, uh, end any arguments," she explained, not meeting the other girls' eyes.

Needless to say, it was an instant conversation killer.


	8. EightEightEight

**I'm not dead! Woot!**

**In case you haven't been able to tell, updates for this story are going to be crazy random with no schedule at all. I'm bad at being on task, but there ain't _nobody _that can procrastinate as well as I can! **

**I wish this chapter could be longer, but...it just didn't happen. It covers everything it needs to. Oh-ho-ohhh next chapter's gonna be fun to write! I will be lathering on the humor like _no other. _I'm excited already!**

**My reviewers. You are all the best people in the world. I don't mean to be rude when I don't respond to you, I just prefer giant all-in-one notes to you guys rather then individual ones. Hugs to all of you!**

**Note: Could you...tell me if a skipped over words or something? I do that _a lot. _Also, expect another update within the week (Thanksgiving break baby!) even though I hate to promise anything...**

**Just wanna say thanks to KristenTheKittyKat, who isn't mad at me even though I'm like, the worst co-author ever. (ASAKHSJDHF I CAN'T BELIEVE I SPELLED YOUR NAME WRONG I'M SO SORRY)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KFP...BUT (I love saying that!) I do own Dai Li!**

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><p><strong>...<strong>

As Po squinted at the familiar pattern of the wooden door, he gave a heavy sigh. Guilt was eating away at him. He shut his eyes and reached out to ring the doorbell.

The door swung open near immediately, and the blue-eyed girl standing inside the house was silent.

He rubbed at his newly healed wrist. It was a habit he'd picked up; rubbing his pain when he was nervous. Now it didn't hurt anymore, but still…

She noticed his lack of a splint. "You're better?"

"Yeah." He attempted to meet her eyes, and failed. "Listen, Vi, I've been a jerk the past few weeks. And not just any a jerk—I've been a _bitter _jerk, which is at least a million times worse then normal jerkism." Viper's lips twitched; she managed to keep her face neutral. "There's a lot of things I've though about, conversations I've had, and since you're my best friend I thought you'd be the first to know. Number one of my list is for me to tell you that I'm sorry. Really, really sorry."

Po momentarily saw stars when the petite girl jumped forward and threw her arms around his midsection. Tears literally brimmed on his lids as he hugged back. "You're such a dork, Nobody," Viper mumbled into his shoulder.

"I know."

In all likelihood, the two friends would've hugged each other for a lifetime—if an annoyed snap from deeper in the house hadn't brought them back to reality. Mantis stood in all his under-six-foot glory, arms crossed, sporting a magnificent frown. The red eyes Po believed were friendly had a foreign sense of loathing about them.

"What are you doing here?"

It wasn't a question; it was an accusation. Mantis looked positively _hostile. _Po gulped and released Viper, drumming his fingers together. "Um," he said intelligently.

Viper jumped in then. Her tone was exasperated as was the fist on his hip. "Leave him alone, Mantis. Just tell him you want a hug too instead of making him sweat."

Mantis' glare flicked toward her for one fleeting moment. Then it simply vanished—instantly replaced by his characteristic grin as he took a single step forward and nearly flew into Po's tentatively awaiting arms.

"I missed you around here, Big Guy!" the shorter boy said, while Po chuckled quietly. "Do you have _any _idea how grumpy Viper is when she's in one of her 'moods'?" He let go and jabbed a finger into Po's chest. "Leaving a brother to handle that alone is _not cool._"

Po had the decency to blush. "Yeah, well, that won't be happening again any time soon," he promised, eyes flickering towards Viper.

She pressed her hands over her mouth—blinking rapidly as if suppressing tears. "Come here you big softie," she mumbled, grabbing him again.

"Hey, easy on the huggy stuff." Mantis looked on with disapproval. "I don't want to throw up all over the porch."

The two let go again, sporting wide smiles. "You have a lot of explaining to do," Viper said, trying for a serious tone but having it ruined by the intensity of her smile.

"I do. And it's going to take a while."

Brother and sister glanced at each other. "I'll tell Mom to make a Po-sized dinner serving," Mantis said as he strode back inside the house.

Good thing Mantis was always a few steps ahead.

**Xxxxx**

Viper hugged the edge of her pillow, watching Po with wide eyes. He was sprawled on the floor of her room—sharing what happened to him the past few weeks. His eyes never left the ceiling. Viper wanted to blurt out her own experience, but was polite enough to wait for him to finish.

"So I told my dad what Principal Oogway said," Po went on now tracing circles in the carpet beside him, "and he didn't agree. Like, at all. He doesn't want me doing anything that might hurt me. I thought Tai Lung hurts me way more then any sport could, but he just wouldn't listen. We got in a huge fight." Po sighed. "Then he kind of just deflated and told me to do whatever I pleased, as long as I never complained."

"Aw, Po," Viper sympathized. "You poor thing!"

"It's not that bad." For the first time, the chubby boy turned to face her. "We've fought before. Usually, we'll both be majorly pissed at the other person, then things just die down…It's so much easier being on good terms with each other then not."

Po fell into a thoughtful silence. His expression clouded and he looked into the carpet. "I…I asked him about my mom." His voice cracked. "I did it when I was mad and I just needed to talk to someone that wasn't him. He…he wouldn't tell me. He got teary-eyed and left me alone for the rest of the day."

Viper slid off her bed. She sat beside her friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey…don't worry about it. He'll tell you when he's ready."

On the subject of his mom, Po became eerily silent. Viper cleared her throat. "Well, anyway, are you going to take Oogway's advice?"

"I dunno," the teenager replied honestly. "Should I?"

That was a good question. Viper jutted out her chin. "I think it would be for the best."

Po didn't hesitate; "Then I will."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Viper smiled at Po, and he smiled back.

Then Mantis, being himself, stormed in while throwing confetti at them and declared it _Celebrate Because Po's Back and I'm Not Alone Anymore _Day.

No wonder he didn't have a girlfriend.

**Xxxxx**

"You ready?"

Po stared blankly at the gray seat in front of him. The old yellow bus rolled to a stop. Viper looked at him seriously.

"Yeah." Po took a deep breath. "Yeah, let's do this."

Viper took the brunt of the wads of paper aimed at Po—going as far as catching a few and pegging them at their throwers. Po heard one blond boy mumble, "Paper should _not _hurt that much," and grinned slightly.

He was immensely glad for Viper and her never-ending patience. He thought she was hate him…and she just took him back like nothing happened.

He looked at her gratefully. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Just, you know. Stuff." Po shrugged and she just gave him a quirky smile. It fled quickly as her skin paled.

"Po…there's something you need to know?"

"What?" he mumbled, eyes trained on his locker.

"There's…well…she…" Viper froze at the sound of a monotone behind her.

"Good morning, Viper," Tigress said quite rigidly. She met Po's emotionless stare with one of her own. "And g…good morning, Po."

There was a tense moment of silence. Po broke it by slamming his locker shut and saying loudly, "Okay, I'm going to bite; _what do you want?_"

Viper bit her lip and looked back and forth from green to gold eyes. Tigress didn't seem half has haggard as she was the weeks before, but traces of late-nights still hung near her eyes. "To say good morning," she said tersely. "And more, if you're willing to listen."

"I'm not," Po didn't miss a beat. He stared Tigress down wearily.

"I'm ready to speak when you are ready to listen," she replied. With a slight nod in Viper's direction, Tigress spun on her heel and walked away.

"What was that?" Po and Viper hissed at each other in a perfect unison.

"Why is she—"

"Listen, I kind of –"

"—I don't trust her!—"

"- You don't have to but –"

"—let him almost _kill me _if you forgot—"

"—doesn't mean you gotta be a jerk—"

"—laughed at me since eighth grade—"

"—She's _sorry _you hypocrite!"

Breathing hard, Viper glared at Po murderously. His was taken back. "She's really sorry for _everything_, she told me! And I believe her! Everyone has good in them somewhere- Including Tigress."

"You wanted to kill her a few days ago…"

Viper shook her head. "We've been…on a truce since you stopped talking to me. You know, nearly four weeks ago?" Her hands suddenly grabbed his shoulders. "I know she was awful, and that she doesn't deserve to be your friend yet…but please just let her explain herself! Her life isn't black and white like you think it is!"

Po's eyes narrowed. "And you know that because you're all buddy-buddy with her now, right? Do you stay up late and tell each other secrets?"

"Po, you don't know—"

"I bet you've told her things you wouldn't even think of telling me!" Po's tone sharpened. "Did you even miss me?"

Viper bowed her head, fists clenched by her sides. "Shut _up. _You don't know what you're talking about."

"I _do_ know exactly what I'm talking about," Po countered, ignoring the late bell as it echoed in the now empty hallway, "in case you've forgotten, she just watched me get beaten to within an inch of my life—"

He was shut up by the abrupt slap to his face.

Viper stood, arm outstretched, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. A stinging pain began to tingle his cheek as he glared at her. "You _don't_ know what you're talking about," Viper hissed with a controlled calm. "You put her through _torture_…"

"Like I wouldn't know what that's like."

Viper looked ready to slap him again. She raised her hand to do so, then let it fall to her side. "This isn't worth it," she sounded resigned. "Get to class Po."

She left him.

Po nursed his cheek. Stupid friends. He was right to abandon them when he didn't, if they were just going to backstab him when he needed them most.

Stupid, stupid friends.

**Xxxxx**

"'Get to class, Po,' she says. 'You don't what you're saying.'" Po blew air out through his clenched lips. "Stupid Viper. Thinking she's so high and mighty…"

Po stumbled into Mr. Shifu's classroom, swearing angrily. The old man was obviously surprised his least favorite student was visiting him after school…

"Do you need something, Po?"

"Yeah, Mr. Shifu, as a matter of fact I do." Po bowed in respect. "I need to learn kung fu from you, master."

The elderly man dropped the papers in his hand. "You."

Po nodded solemnly.

"_You_ want to learn kung fu."

"Yep."

"From _me_."

Po looked a bit uncertain. "Yes…"

"And who on _earth _told you I would do that?"

Both Po and Mr. Shifu froze—a voice from behind interrupted them. "I did," Principal Oogway said sedately, leaning on his cane. "And you will, Mr. Shifu."

"But—"

"Please, don't make this harder then it needs to be," Oogway said quietly. He smiled warmly at Po. "It's good that you took my advice."

"Your advice was pretty good, Principal Oogway."

And it was.

**Xxxxx**

"I'm sorry," Viper reiterated through clenched teeth. "I didn't know that he'd turned into such a huge –"

"I'm not blaming you. I'm just…wondering aloud."

Viper frowned and looked at Tigress. The golden-eyed girl looked sad…not haggard…just sad. Viper sighed and looked down at her lunch, poking it lamely with her spoon.

"I really don't know," Viper went on. "I'm really sorry, Tigress, I thought he would at least listen." Her voice choked up. "I really, honestly did…"

"It's not your fault." Tigress bit into a forkful of salad. "It's mine."

There was no argument against that.

They ate in silence for a few more minutes, when Tigress' friends suddenly surrounded their table. They greeted Viper like an old friend. To her slight embarrassment, Crane took the seat beside her and offered to split his dessert if she promised to sit with them more often.

"I'd love to," she said and snagged a bite of his brownie. In the back of her might she knew she was backstabbing Po, and part of herself, but at that moment it felt _good _to be sharing food with a cute, charming guy that wouldn't start talking about things he didn't know.

Viper looked down at her last bite of brownie. A small smile flickered on her face and she reached out to Tigress. "Here," she offered. "Everything's going to be fine."

There was a considerable amount of confusion in Tigress' eyes. It morphed into contentment and she accepted the chocolate, nodding her agreement.

It that moment of perfect harmony—somewhere, angels were singing—came a swaggering, smirking, dripping-with-arrogance boy with his arm around and equally sickening girl. He plopped down next to Tigress.

His expression killed whatever happiness had managed to shine. Crane's grin instantly turned itself upside down, resulting in Viper's doing the same. Monkey ended his conversation with Tigress and Mei Ling abruptly, giving Tai Lung his full attention.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Tai Lung said while wringing his hands, "but I think I should be the one to tell you. Because it's bloody bad news."

He sighed dramatically, and the pause was (apparently) too long for some, because Dai Li leaped from her seat in near hysterics. "The-the _blubber ball _is going to do kung fu with us!" Then she fell back into her seat and threw herself in Tai Lung's arms, shaking and mumbled nonsense.

Tai Lung kissed the top of her head while stroking her hair. "Yeah. We overheard him talking to Shifu yesterday, after school. Principal Oogway is all for it too."

No one had a reaction quite as melodramatic as Dai Li's—but no one was happy either. "What?" Monkey demanded, while Tigress kept her mouth shut tightly. Mei Ling gave Crane a worried look, which he returned with concern in his own eyes. Viper's nails left small trenches in the table where she dragged her fingers through.

"What's so bad about that?" she asked quietly.

"He's the fatso, _that's_ what!" Dai Li whimpered. "Does anything else need to be said?"

_No, Viper, calm yourself and just stay silent. Po doesn't deserve you now anyway. _

Completely ignoring her better judgment, Viper's hatred for injustice spoke; "Yes, Blondie, you need a lot more reasons to pick on him like that. Incase you can't get it through your thick-as-stone skull, he's a human just like you are. The only difference are chromosomes; other then that he's the exact same."

A moment of tense silence followed. "Who invited you here, anyway?" Tai Lung said with some defensiveness creeping into his voice.

"I did," Tigress answered immediately. "If that bothers you then you can take it up with me, Tai Lung, just stop hurting people that don't deserve it."

The angry-eyed boy glared at her, then turned away. "Well I know I'm not the only one who thinks this is an outrage. Monkey, you hate this too, right?"

Monkey ran a hand through his messy hair. "Hate isn't the right word," he admitted. "I'm just…annoyed. Kinda angry. He'll slow us down."

Tai Lung grunted. "Okay, fine. What about you Crane? Pal?"

"Tai, you know I'm neutral about this stuff," Crane said softly. "I'm not on a side."

"I'm with Crane on this one," Mei Ling piped up. She slipped her hand into Crane's.

Tai Lung's head whipped wildly among his friends. His gaze finally landed on Viper, where it stuck. "You all want to follow this bubble-headed bitch? Be my bloody guest." He stood, and Dai Li stood with him. "I'll take care of ole Fatso myself."

"Do it," Viper warned venomously, just as Tigress threatened, "And I'll stop you _my_self."

**Xxxx**

"Do you know what balance means, Ping?"

Po flung his arms out in wide arcing circles as he tried to keep himself upright. Under Shifu's scrutinizing glare everything seemed twice as hard—even balancing on a stupid beam.

"I'm trying, Master," he responded.

"Well try harder!" Shifu barked. A thin staff he was clutching in his head came down readily on Po's head. Po saw stars for a minute (and felt like a Looney Tunes character for much longer).

After some more struggling and arm-swinging, Po finally righted himself. Shifu nodded in rigid approval. "Good. Now, ready stance like I taught you."

Po jumped from his single foot to both, knees apart, elbows in. He kept his hands open (for quicker, more agile blows) and breathed steady.

Shifu studied him for a few seconds. Without any warning, the old man attacked with his staff. Po didn't even attempt to block—he simply lost everything and received a firm smack on his noggin as a reward.

"_Ugh_!" he exclaimed in pain. Grabbing at his injury, Po asked, "Can we take a break or something?"

"Yes," Shifu agreed, "a break would do us _both _good."

Po trotted off to the other end of the dojo. While it had many rooms, Shifu chose the largest one with a wall made of mirrors to teach Po in—so he could see himself as he learned. Something about images sticking with the brain or blah, blah, Po couldn't care less.

He was sweating buckets and they'd been going for less then an hour. Twice he felt like he wanted to faint, and four times he threw up. Shifu hated this lesson just as much as Po did, if not more.

And if things couldn't _possibly _get any worse, the door swung open to reveal Viper. Alone, thankfully, but Viper nonetheless. She actually looked ready to spar—in Nike clothes and protective gear under her arm, rather then Po's dingy t-shirt and too-small basketball shorts.

He panicked, of course. While scrambling for a hiding place, he forgot about the water bottle in his hand. When he tripped it became a very…wet experience.

He let himself lay face-down on the floor for a while only daring to look up when he heard hesitant giggling. Viper was standing next to him looking down, blue orbs alight with mischief. "Need some help?" she asked, extending a hand to him.

"Urgh. Thanks." Po lifted himself up and quickly dropped her delicate hand. He looked at his toes. "Why're you here?"

"I train too, you know," she replied. "And I guess I chose a good time. Shifu's probably been hard on you. Having someone around can ease the pressure."

Po looked up at her then away quickly. "So…"

Viper jumped in with a hand on his arm. "Listen…we were both just mad," she said, referring to their fight on Monday. "You're ignorant about Tigress' life, and I got mad at you for it. It shouldn't have happened, and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't go flapping my jaw about stuff I don't know…"

Viper, blushing now, looked down at her toes. "I…sorry about, er, slapping you too."

"It's cool. I bet it felt good."

Viper brought her head up, smiling. "It felt _awesome._ Now you might want to get back to Shifu. I think he's contemplating using his staff as a javelin…" she said thoughtfully.

Po wiped sweat off his brow and trotted back to his master. Even with Viper, this was going to be a _long _lesson.


	9. Break 'em In

_The Nobody: Chapter 9: Break 'em In_

**A/N: Somewhere along the line, Mantis became Sokka, Po became Aang, Viper became Katara and Tigress became Zuko (and lord knows I love torturing that boy) and everything kind of deteriorated from there. (which would bring up the whole Kataang vs Zutara (with some Zukaang I guess? Meh…))**

**Told you this would be humorous. Ended up having a lot more serious moments then I intended.**

**Sorry for the long wait. No hard feelings?**

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><p>By request of Shifu, Viper and Mantis agreed to help Po with his kung fu whenever they had free time. During their first lesson, within the first twenty-three minutes, the siblings quickly questioned how Po had enough balance to go up a stair case.<p>

"Dude!" Mantis exclaimed, catching the taller boy for the sixth time.

"I'm sorry," Po countered, waving his arms frantically in hopes of righting himself on the wooden beam again. "But in my defense, this is a lot harder then it looks!"

Viper, sitting atop a beam of her own, rubbed her temples. "No, Po, it really isn't."

"Says the girl who's been doing kung fu since she was _eight._"

"_Four_!" Viper snapped. "Get your facts right!"

Mantis glared at the two friends. "Hey—I'm supposed to be the immature one here. Viper, shut up and be responsible or whatever, and Po, just shut up." He added a finger jab for emphasis, then crossed his legs and fell to the ground, eyes closed and ready to meditate.

Po stayed quiet for about five minutes, until he was sure Mantis was in deep meditation. He turned to Viper with raised eyebrows. "Hey, Viper?"

With a quick sweep of her hair, Viper glanced at the boy. "What?" she hissed back, careful to keep her voice low.

"I think…" Po's face began to perspire and redden. "I think…"

"What? What is it?"

"I think I'm about to fall," he said, and proceeded to do just that. Mantis squawked and rolled away, giving Po room to land where he had just been.

Mantis ran a hand through his hair, spiking it up even more then it already was. "This is _not _as funny the sixth time around."

"Actually," Viper stated in a matter of fact tone, "This was the seventh time."

Mantis facepalmed. Hard.

* * *

><p>Po grudgingly allowed short conversations between himself and the Evil One (as he'd taken to calling her) whenever it was necessary, and <em>only <em>then. The decision was obvious and burnt like acid when Tigress thought about it, but at least Po was talking to her so that counted for something, right?

For the first time in ten minutes, Shifu looked away from the two students—certainly knowing of the tension between them—and Tigress leaped at the chance. She was careful in her task of leaning over to the chubbier boy, keeping her features soft and her voice breathy. She felt his cringe as she neared his personal bubble, but it was too late to stop. "Raise your fists," she told him as quietly as she could. "And keep your knees apart."

Po eyed her cynically, but did as she advised. When Shifu surprise attacked him later, Po only gave a mild start. His balance never even wavered.

"Good," was all Shifu said, though his eyes were boring holes into her skull.

Tigress didn't speak a word for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

><p>"…is there any reason we're standing on poles right now?"<p>

"Qinggong. The art of weightlessness. Learn it."

"On a _pole_?"

"No time to learn like the present, huh?"

"Mantis, Shifu said train me, not kill me."

"They go together in case you hadn't noticed."

"…"

"Are you really trying Bambi eyes on me?"

"No…?"

"You've got a lot to learn, Ping."

Suddenly, Mantis' hand was a blur, and in the next instant Po was face-first in the ground.

"Rule Number Uno: do _not _use the Bambi eyes."

"Rule noted…"

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><p>"You know, you've gotten a lot of bruises over the past month. You sure you want to keep doing this?"<p>

It was a valid question. He _had _gotten a lot of bruises, some that were sure to leave a bluey-purple mark forever. But Po couldn't let that deter him. Shifu wanted him to break…and that was all he'd done for seventeen years.

And that was more then enough time for him to get sick of it.

"Yeah," Po nodded as she poked a needle in his lower back. He didn't understand acupuncture, but Viper was interested in it so it couldn't be _all _bad. "I'm sticking with this till the end."

Viper mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "proud of you."

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><p>"Rule Number Dos: expect the unexpected."<p>

"Mantis, you threw _hot coffee _on my _face!_"

"I'm not seeing your point."

* * *

><p>Po staggered into the training hall, sweat pouring from his body in waves. Swaying heavily, he shot a look at Viper, who hadn't even broken a sweat during the three-mile jog, and Shifu, who looked as full of disappointment as ever.<p>

"Hey, uh, Shifu, could I get some water?" Po asked breathlessly, ignoring the sympathetic look Viper had cast his way.

The short old man materialized in front of Po, seemingly out of no where. "What did you call me, boy?"

"Uh…" Po glanced towards the sky, then lowered his gaze again and gave a lopsided grin. "Shifu?"

"That is _Master _Shifu to you, panda."

As the man stared his down, Po stroked an imaginary chin. He waited a bit before voicing his thoughts.

"Did you just call me panda?"

Shifu's eye twitched visibly.

"It fits you, no?"

"Well I guess, but it sure ain't flattering – "

In mid-sentence, Shifu groaned impossibly loud. "Go," he muttered dazedly, "go and get your drink."

"Thanks, Master," Po tossed back with a light air. He had caught his breath finally. Viper trailed behind him, a soft smirk on her face as she took neared the dojo's refrigerator.

"Something up?" The silence was killing Po. He wanted to know what she was smirking at.

"Oh nothing," Viper replied, batting innocent eyes his way. She flicked her ponytail, smiling wickedly. "_Panda._"

Po froze.

"Mantis must never know."

"Really?" Viper pouted, obviously trying not to laugh. "I think he'd love that –"

"_He must _never _know_."

* * *

><p>"Rule number three," Mantis growled through clenched teeth as he pressed his heel into Po's chest, "<em>don't touch my hair<em>."

* * *

><p>Viper took careful steps as she neared her old friend. Cautiously, she placed a hand on Tigress' shoulder. The other girl jumped, pulled suddenly out of her trance. Viper had noticed she became oblivious to the world whenever she watched Po spar…<p>

"How're you doing?" Viper offered timidly. "Everything alright?"

Tigress' golden eyes studied her for a long time. "You really care?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."

The jab got a small smile from her. However, the melancholy air soon returned as Tigress shifted and rubbed at her neck. "Not well," she admitted. "Better, I suppose, but that itself is not much of an improvement."

Viper subconsciously winced as Po was body slammed by Crane. She tried to keep her focus on Tigress. "He talks to you at least…"

"Yeah," Tigress scoffed, "in a tone laced with poison. He'd much rather eat his own foot then carry a civil discussion with me."

Viper tried not to shudder at the uncanny; Po had used those very words to describe his ill feelings towards Tigress. Feeling a bitter guilt, Viper squeezed her shoulder and tried to smile. "Things have been going good for a while. I'm sure he'd just want to eat a toe now."

No reaction came from Tigress. Sensing that the rejection was really starting to get to her now, Viper became serious. "You trust me, right?"

"Of course," Tigress said instantly. Viper was touched.

"Good. I have an idea about how you can prove yourself to him. It'll cost you, I guess, but I know it'll be worth it."

Tigress looked wary. "Cost me…what?"

"Nothing dramatic…" Viper said slowly. "Probably wouldn't help your daddy issues though."

Surprisingly, Tigress let out a barking laugh. "The tensions with Shifu are irresolvable as it is," she said mirthlessly. "Tell me your idea."

Viper gave her a morose smile. "Remember that assignment you got partnered up with in History…?"

* * *

><p>"So…" Mantis said, quirking an eyebrow at the golden-eyed girl, "I hear you're banging Tai Lung behind Dai Li's back."<p>

Mother made a snort of disapproval, Father never broke his steady of rhythm of fork-to-plate-to-mouth; Viper shot him an affronted glare, yet the girl in question merely laughed.

"That is horrific on several levels," Tigress said. "And I genuinely mean that."

Mantis nodded and dodged the rapid swat of Viper's hand.

"I hear you hooked up with a junior and ditched after she wouldn't please you," Tigress said amiably.

There was a long silence.

"You're not all bad, Tigress." Mantis sounded impressed. "Could you pass the potatoes?"

After that, he made sure to invite Tigress for dinner every chance he could.

* * *

><p>"Shifu."<p>

"Panda."

Po's eyes narrowed at his master, mouth twitching in anticipation. He flicked his wrist and lunged forward, waving his chop-sticks about in attempt to steal a dumpling from the bowl Shifu was taunting him with.

After several minutes of fierce battle, Po retreated and surveyed his master again.

"Impressive," Shifu said, taking a dumpling for himself. "But you're still hungry."

"Am not!"

"Please, panda, I can hear your stomach growling from here."

* * *

><p>"Wow…you're…you're really okay with this new nickname, aren't you?"<p>

Po shrugged and grinned, giving his new panda-backpack a small squeeze. "Maybe."

* * *

><p>"<em>Shifu."<em>

"_Panda."_

Po sat back on his heels, sloppily enjoying the fruit of his labors—a single dumpling, squished and cold, but delicious nonetheless.

He waggled his eyebrows at Shifu once he was finished. "Well?"

Shifu grunted. "Well done," he said at last. "Let's see if you can do it again."

* * *

><p>Shifu's jaw dropped at the panda – the chubby (less so now then he had been months ago) boy surpassed Viper in their three-mile run. He jogged the last few yards up to Shifu, smiling and panting but looking pleased rather then miserable.<p>

"Wow," Shifu breathed.

"I know," Po grinned. "I'm pretty awesome, huh?"

"Not even close, panda."

* * *

><p>There was a loud smack that echoed throughout the training hall, and for once the person that had belly-flopped on the floor wasn't Po.<p>

Somewhat awkwardly, Po offered a hand to Crane. "So…are you, like, done or do you want to go again?"

Crane glowered. "Again," he snapped tartly. "I'll show you what I can _really _do."

He did. And…he _lost_.

* * *

><p>"Shifu."<p>

"Ping."

On opposite ends of the dojo, Shifu stood holding a half-empty bowl and Po was victoriously holding a handful of dumplings, popping each into his mouth one after another.

"You can do better," Shifu chided.

"I can?"

"Of course you can. I don't know what you have within you, panda, but you've shown a good deal of raw talent. You're not a _completely_ hopeless case."

"Aw, gee, thanks, Master Shifu. I'm touched."

* * *

><p>"Rule number four – "<p>

Po smirked and caught Mantis' hand mid-strike, holding on with an iron grip. "I think it's time the rule's got rewritten," he said soundly. "New rule number one: don't. even. Think about it."

Without further ado, he flipped the shorter boy off his balancing pole and onto the ground below.

* * *

><p>Yesterday, the record for Faster Completion of the Obstacle Course went to Tigress, with an outstanding time of two minutes forty-two seconds.<p>

Today, Po's name took her place with a time of two minutes fifteen seconds.

* * *

><p>"Master."<p>

"Po."

Po looked down; he clutched a bowl full of dumplings in one hand while his master stood empty-handed. He chuckled softly and looked back up.

"Take it," he tossed the bowl over to Shifu, who caught it skeptically.

"You have worked so hard for it," Shifu pointed out.

Po shrugged.

"I'm not hungry."

* * *

><p>Po stared at himself for a very long time before he left for school. Sometime in March he had to get a new wardrobe to fit his smaller waist and broader shoulders. His arms had become less fat and more muscle; his stomach slimmed down considerable. Gone were the rosy roundness of his cheeks…and for once, he was perfectly content with his reflection.<p>

He heard a choked up sob behind him, and turned to see Mr. Ping brushing away tears and smiling like the proudest man in the world. There was a tense silence. Po knew his dad wasn't so happy with him learning kung fu…he had no idea what would happen; if it would be like their last argument.

"I'm so proud of you, son," Mr. Ping said quietly, throwing Po off completely. "I'm so proud, and I know your mother would be too."

Po crossed his room in three quick strides before scooping his father up in a heartfelt hug.

* * *

><p>-<em>scenes that were necessary but I couldn't fit them into the chapter in anyway-<em>

* * *

><p><strong>November 22nd 19:00 EST<strong>

Po Ping had had _enough _of this holiday.

His hand was trembling and his breathing was becoming ragged. The phone by his head was silently taunting him, as was the shaky smile on his father's face.

"You…you're telling me…that…that my mother…" jeez, why were words so hard? "My mother…is just a phone call away?"

"I believe so, yes," Mr. Ping said in a steady tone. "She would answer if you called."

"…wow…" Po sat on his hunches. The world was spinning around him, mixing up his thoughts. "…can I get some time to think about it?"

"Of course, son."

Mr. Ping left to clear the table from their two person meal. Po's heart was hammering as he reached for the phone, retracted his hand, and did it again…

_Po. Your mother. You've wanted to know about her since…since forever! What's holding you back?_

"I…" He was crying now; his breath coming in quick, short gasps. "I…don't know."

Needless to say, his hand fell limply into his lap and Po made no attempt to raise it again.

* * *

><p><strong>December 25th 18:00 EST<strong>

Amidst the cold and snow, Tigress lazily sat on her front porch. She watched as car after car drove down the street. Off to have Christmas Dinner with their families, no doubt. Briefly she considered going inside, but sudden screams and a loud banging of a door changed her mind.

Without looking away from the snow-dusted street, she called after the woman that had left; "No dinner then, Auntie Fenghuang?"

The lady in question turned, caught off guard. She wasn't related to Tigress by blood; she was just a very close family friend. And she was obviously angry—Tigress could tell by the way she clutched her purse and darkened her expression. Indigo eyes glared at nothing for a very long time. Finally, Fenghuang took a few clipped strides forward and laid a hand gently on Tigress' shoulder. "Listen," she said, voice shaking as if she were close to tears, "Tigress. I love you like you're my own daughter; really I do. But your father is…difficult." Fenghuang chuckled dryly. "Very much so. I…I would love to stay here with you…but if Shifu is only going to disrespect me then…I'm afraid I can't."

Tigress sat unmoving. She glanced at her surrogate aunt's hand, and after serious consideration, placed her own on top of it. "That's alright, Auntie," she said with a soft, fragile voice. "I'll manage."

Fenghuang smiled sadly and pressed a kiss on the top of Tigress' head. "I'm sure you will." She hurried off the porch and toward her car. "Merry Christmas, Tigress!" she called over her shoulder. Tigress watched stoically as she climbed into her car and drove off.

Moving very, very slowly, Tigress tucked her knees up to her chest. "Yeah," she mumbled quietly. "Merry Christmas…"

"You cryin'?"

Stiffening, Tigress' head shot up. A boy and girl stood before her, wearing scarves and hats and shy smiles. Tigress wiped away a tear, staring blankly at them.

"Viper? Mantis?"

"In the flesh," Mantis said with a dimpled grin. "Now will you answer my question?"

Tigress stared at him in confusion before realizing what he meant. "I was…yes, I was crying…"

"Why? It's Christmas, silly!"

"Christmas is not always a happy time," Tigress said darkly.

Viper offered the warmest smile she'd ever seen. "Only if you spend it with the wrong people."

"If you spend it with the right ones…" Mantis had adopted a solemn look.

"Then it can be fun. Happy, even." Viper gestured toward the door, smirking. "Now, are you gonna let us in, or are our presents and warm food gonna go to waste?"

Before she could manage an answer, Tigress saw another man appear from behind Mantis. "Choose wisely, my dear," Oogway said, winking at her.

Overcome with emotion, Tigress leaped to her feet and hugged the man that was more like a father to her then her real one. Oogway was hardly startled; he was expecting it. "Yes," Tigress said, muffled by Oogways shoulder. "Yes, you must _all_ come in."

"Your dad gonna be cool with us?" Mantis asked cautiously as she opened the door for them.

Feeling proud and _happy, _happier then she'd been in a long time, Tigress grinned at him. "Who knows? And, more importantly, who cares?"

* * *

><p><strong>December 31st 24:00 EST<strong>

"Happy New Year, Tigress!" Tai Lung shouted as he clinked their cups together. "Another year with some more opportunities, huh?"

Tigress regarded him coldly. "Whatever you say."

"Don't be so pouty." Tai Lung took a swig from his cup. "So Shifu's bein' an ass. What's new?"

Cutting off her response, Mei Ling spun between them, grabbing Tigress' hand and swinging onto the dance floor. "Sorry, Tai, need to borrow her for a sec."

Without waiting for his reply, they were off.

"Going to tell me why you did that?" Tigress snapped as Mei Ling twirled her in time with the music.

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to stop you from committing first-degree murder."

"I wasn't going to kill him - "

"Yes you were," Mei Ling interrupted flatly. "And I don't blame you. But do me—all of us, a favor, Ti. Don't take him on alone. He's…a loose cannon. You don't know what he'll do."

"I can handle him," Tigress spat. She ripped out of Mei Ling's grip. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I know that," Mei Ling said in a calm voice. "But you do need some self-control, and until you learn that, we'll be watching you like hawks."

"You and who else?"

Mei Ling frowned. "All of us—Crane, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Zeng, Po – "

Tigress scoffed. "Like he would care about my well being."

"Thanks for reminding me," Mei Ling said mysteriously, "he wanted me to give you this." She fished about in her purse for a moment before producing a folded up note.

Tigress took it, skeptically, and began to read:

_Dear Tigress,_

_It's been a while. We've both grown up, haven't we? I dunno what you think, nor do I particularly care, but you ought to know that I _do not _deserve it. I never did. Even though you've done _nothing _for my well-being…I'm looking out for yours._

_Cynically Yours,_

_Po Ping_


End file.
